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LIFE    OF    NAPOLEON 


Life  of  Napoleon 


BY 

MAJOR  ARTHUR  GRIFFITHS 

AUTHOR    OF   "WELLINGTON  AND   WATERLOO," 

"  FRENCH     REVOLUTIONARY    GENERALS," 

ETC.    ETC. 


With  very  numerous  Portraits  and  Illus- 
trations by  Appiani,  Bcrthon,  Canova, 
Char  let,  David,  Delaroche,  Gtfrard,  Greuze, 
Gros,  Guerin,  Isabyy  Levachez,  Meisso- 
nier,  Prudhon,    Vernet  and  many  others. 


LONDON 
GIBBINGS    &    COMPANY 
Philadelphia:  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  CO. 


H\STO«f * 


Second  Edition,  1914 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 


Early  Days 


Hero-worship — Estimate  of  His  Character — Birth  and 
Childhood — At  Brienne — Ecole  Militaire  in  Paris — 
Enters  the  Artillery — His  Poverty — Joins  Paoli — 
Returns  to  Paris — Made  Captain — Returns  to  Cor- 
sica— Traitor  to  that  Country — Escapes  in  Disguise 
— All  the  Family  go  to  Marseilles— Takes  the  head- 
ship of  the  Family — Publishes  a  Pamphlet  and  is 
Recognised.-— 1769-1793. 


PAGE 
1 


CHAPTER  II 
His  First  Chances         .... 

At  the  Siege  of  Toulon — Made  Brigadier-General  of 
Artillery — With  the  Army  of  Italy — Arrested  as  a 
Friend  of  the  Robespierres — Released — Removed  to 
La  Vendee — Broken-hearted — Life  in  Paris — Junot 
shares  his  Money — Is  placed  in  the  War  Office — Tries 
to  go  to  Turkey — Draws  up  a  Scheme  of  Operations 
in  Italy — 13th  Vendemiaire — The  Sections  v.  Conven- 
tion— Barras  given  Command — Sends  for  Bonaparte 


39 


x  CONTENTS 

— Sectionnaires  Defeated — Military  Head  of  Home 
District — Given  Command  in  Italy — Marriage. — 
1793-1796. 

CHAPTER  III 

His  Debut  as  a  General 

His  Appearances — Shows  his  Quality — Disregards  his 
Instructions — Description  of  his  Campaign — Rapid 
Victories — "Petit  Caporal" — The  Loot  of  Italy — 
Directory  take  him  to  Task — Refuses  to  divide  his 
Command — Is  given  a  Free  Hand — Drives  the 
Austrians  out  of  Italy — Naples — The  Pope  and 
Tuscany  Submit — Austria  try  to  regain  their  Italian 
Possessions — Again  Defeated — Austria  renew  the 
War  in  the  Spring — Driven  out  and  followed  into 
Austria — Peace  of  Campo  Formio — Keeps  a  semi- 
regal  Court— Trouble  with  Josephine.— 1796-1797. 

CHAPTER  IV 

Oriental  Dreams  .... 

Uncrowned  King  of  Italy — Treaty  of  Peace  with 
Austria  in  spite  of  the  Directory — Paris  Fetes — 
Egyptian  Plans — Raising  the  Funds — Expedition 
Sails — Takes  Malta — Invasion  of  Egypt — Battle  of 
the  Pyramids — Fleet  destroyed  by  Nelson — Revolt 
in  Cairo — Campaign  in  Syria — Massacre  at  Jaffa — 
News  from  France— His  Return.— 1797-1799. 

CHAPTER  V 
Sovereign  Power  .... 

18th  Brumaire — Combination  with  Sieyes — Takes  the 
Lead  —  Plots  and  Counterplots  —  Meeting  of  the 
Council — Failure  before  the  Ancients — Grenadiers 
invade  the  Chamber — France  at  his  Feet — His  Civil 
Government  —  Military  Government  —  War  with 
Austria— Marengo.  —1799-1800. 


p 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  VI 

PAGE 

From  Consulate  to  Crown       .  .  .183 

Consulate  his  greatest  Period — Internal  Affairs — 
Economy  —  Liberality  —  His  Power  of  Work  and 
Extraordinary  Memory — Code  Napoleon — Recon- 
ciliation with  the  Catholic  Church — Attempts  on  his 
Life — Conspiracy  of  Georges  and  Pichegru — Murder 
of  the  Due  d'Enghien — Takes  the  Title  of  Emperor. 
—1800-1804. 

CHAPTER  VII 
Boulogne  and  Austerlitz        .  .  .214 

Royal  State — Reviews — Rivalry  with  England — Pro- 
claims the  Commercial  Blockade — Prepares  to  In- 
vade England — Marches  from  Boulogne  to  Austria 
— Ulm — Trafalgar — Fate  of  Villeneuve — Victory  of 
Austerlitz.— 1804-1805. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
"Imperial  Cesar"     ^   .  .  .  .       25JL-. 

Five  Years  of  War  with  Prussia,  with  Russia,  with 
Spain  and  Portugal,  with  Austria — Campaign  of  Jena 
— The  "Continental  System" — Russian  Campaign 
— Battle  of  Eylau — Sufferings  of  the  Army — Battle 
of  Friedland — Peace  of  Tilsit — On  the  Pinnacle  of 
Glory — Ovation  on  his  Return  to  Paris — Family 
Quarrels  —  Court  Etiquette  —  Meets  the  Czar  at 
Erfurt— Committed  to  a  War  with  Spain. — 1805-1809. 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Empress  Marie  Louise      .  .  .       301 

Desire  to  humiliate  England,  prime  cause  of  the  occu- 
pation of  Spain — England  seizes  Danish  Fleet — 
Places  Joseph  on  Spanish  Throne — Takes  300,000 
men  to  keep  him  there — Wellington — War  with 
Austria — Wagram — Divorce  —  Marriage  to  Marie 
Louise — Birth  of  a  Son — Napoleon  as  a  father. — 
1809-1811. 


xii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   X 

PAGE 

The  Invasion  of  Russia  .  .  .341 

Effects  of  the  Continental  System — The  Price  of 
Greatness — Preparations  for  War  with  Russia— Pomp 
at  Dresden — Russia  Invaded — Advance  of  the  French 
— Retreat  of  the  Russians — Battle  of  Borodino — 
Arrival  at  Moscow — The  Awful  Retreat — Leaves 
the  Army  and  arrives  at  the  Tuileries. — 1811-1812. 


CHAPTER   XI 
Napoleon  at  Bay  ....       367 

Efforts  to  Retrieve  the  Disaster — A  New  Army  to 
face  Prussia  and  Russia — Battle  of  Llitzen— Napoleon 
enters  Dresden — Battle  of  Bautzen — Austria  joins  the 
Coalition  —  Army  of  Bohemia  Beaten  —  Personal 
Breakdown  —  Luck  Turns  —  French  Defeats  —The 
Reasons — Concentrates  on  Leipzic — The  Battle  and 
Defeat— Withdrawal  to  the  Rhine.— 1812-1813. 

CHAPTER  XII 
The  Downfall  .....       395 

France  Invaded — Allies  Combine — March  on  Paris — 
Napoleon  Agrees  to  Abdicate — The  Fallen  Leader — 
Banished  to  Elba — Life  There — Revulsion  of  Feeling 
in  his  Favour — Returns  to  France — Kingdom  Re- 
covered— Efforts  and  Preparations — The  Final  Cam- 
paign— Ill-health — Fatal  Delays — Battle  of  Ligny — 
Quatre  Bras — Waterloo — Flight  to  Paris — Second 
Abdication  ends  the  "  Hundred  Days  " — Surrender  to 
Capt.  Maitland— Sent  to  St  Helena— The  End.— 
1813-1821. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


IN  COLOUR 

Bonaparte,  Premier  Consul,  Painted  and  Engraved 

by  C.  F.  G.  Levachez  .  .      Frontispiece 

Napoleon,  after  Gerard    .  .  .  face  page  208 


The  Napoleon  Ladder 

Charles  Bonaparte,  Father  of  Napoleon  . 

Letitia  Bonaparte,  Mother  of  Napoleon  . 

The  Room  in  which  Napoleon  was  Born 

Facsimile  of  Memoranda  made  by  Napoleon  while 
a  Student     .  .  . 

The  Young  Artillery  Officer 

General  Bonaparte,  Painted  by  J.  Guerin 

General  Bonaparte,  from  a  Contemporary  Portrait 

Reduced  Facsimile  of  a  Letter  from  Josephine 

Facsimile  of  one  of  Bonaparte's  Letters  . 

The   First   Interview   between     Bonaparte   and 
Josephine      .... 

General  Bonaparte,  by  Appiani  . 
xiii 


in 

11 
15 
19 

25 
33 
43 
51 
56 
61 

65 

75 


xiv    LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Bonaparte  at  the  Bridge  of  Areola 

Triumphal  Entry  of  the  French  into  Venice 

General  Bonaparte 

Madame  Bonaparte 

Bonaparte  Medallion,  by  David  . 

Bonaparte  in  Egypt,  by  Detaille 

Bonaparte  at  the  Pyramids,  by  Gros 

The  Battle  of  the  Nile,  by  Pocock 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  by  Greuze  . 

Installation  of  the  Council  of  State,  by  A.  Couder 

Napoleon,  First  Consul,  by  Boilly 

Bonaparte  Crossing  the  Alps,  by  David 

Bonaparte,  First  Consul,  by  David 

Bonaparte,  First  Consul,  Sheathing  his.  Sword 

from  a  Print 
Josephine,  from  a  Miniature  by  Isaby 
Napoleon  in  Coronation  Robes,  after  F.  Gerard 
Napoleon  Receiving  the  Senatus-Consultum 
Napoleon  Presenting  Eagles  to  the  Grand  Army 

after  David  .... 
The  Empress  Josephine,  by  Gerard 
Napoleon,  from  a  Lithograph  by  Raffet  . 
Napoleon's  State  Coach    . 
Napoleon,  after  Chatillon 
The  Battle  of  Austerlitz,  from  a  Print 
Interview  with  Francis  II.,  Emperor  of  Austria 

by  Prudhon  . 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS     xv 


Napoleon  Bust,  by  Canova 

Napoleon,  after  J.  B.  Bosio 

Napoleon  at  Berlin,  by  Berthon 

Napoleon,  after  Charlet   . 

Napoleon  with  his  Nephews   and   Nieces,  after 

Ducis  .... 

Hortense,  Queen  of  Holland 
Napoleon  and  the  Queen  of  Prussia,  by  Gosse 
Napoleon,  from  a  Lithograph  by  Fauconnier 
Breaking  the  Neus 

The  Empress  Marie  Louise,  by  Gerard    . 
The  Marriage  of  Napoleon  and  Marie  Louise,  by 

Rouget  .... 

The  Baptism  of  the  Infant  King  of  Rome 
Napoleon,  Marie  Louise  and  the  King  of  Rome 

after  Menjaud 
Marie  Louise  and  the  King  of  Rome,  by  Franque 
The  Duke  of  Reichstadt,  by  Sir  T.  Lawrence 
Napoleon,  from  a  Miniature 
Marshal  Ney  in  the  Retreat  from  Moscow,  by 

Yvon  .  ... 

"  1812  w  :  The  Retreat,  after  Meissonier . 
Napoleon,  after  C.  H.  Hodges     . 
"  Sire,  you  may  depend  on  us  " 
Napoleon,  after  Charlet  . 
Napoleon  at  Fontainebleau,  Delaroche     . 
"  1814,"  by  Meissonier    . 


xvi     LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGK 

Reception  by  the  Soldiers  .  .       409 

Attack  on  Napoleon's  Carriage    .  .  .        419 

Notes  Written  by  Napoleon  on  Playing  Cards  .  421 
Napoleon  Embarking  on  Board  the  "Bellerophon "  423 
Napoleon  at  St  Helena  ....  427 
Napoleon's  Grave  .  .  .  .431 

Funeral  of  Napoleon  in  Paris,  1840         .  .435 

Headpieces  and  Initial  Letters  by  Horace  Vernet. 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY  DAYS  — 1769-4793 


I  HE  Napoleonic  legend 
is  a  topic  full  of 
vitality  and  absorbing 
interest :  it  holds  the 
pj  mind  with  a  force  and 
~  i£j  tenacity  that  seems  to 
deepen  with  illustra- 
tion. The  more  men 
hear  of  Napoleon  the  more  they  desire 
to  know.  In  his  adopted  country — for 
he  was  really  no  Frenchman — the  cult 
has  been  carried  to  absurd  lengths.  His 
personality  and  his  epoch,  his  transcendent 
talents  and  what  they  achieved,  his  Court 
and  surroundings,  the  beginnings  and  end 


2  "  '      LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  his  romantic  and  adventurous  career, 
from  the  first  rocket-like  rise  to  his  tragic 
downfall,  his  apogee  and  his  perigee,  have 
received  universal,  even  fulsome,  attention 
in  France.  Art  and  Literature.  Society 
and  the  Stage,  all  alike  do  him  great 
honour.  Painters  seek  their  inspiration  in 
the  chief  incidents  in  his  history ;  writers 
of  every  calibre  have  dealt  with  his  life 
and  times,  in  diaries  and  memoirs,  paste- 
and-scissor  records,  thoughtful  philosophic 
essays  towards  a  full  appreciation  of  his 
character;  the  fashions  of  the  Directory, 
the  Consulate  and  the  Empire  have  long 
been  in  favour  with  the  fair  sex  ;  furniture 
and  decorations  of  the  period  are  largely 
imitated ;  Madame  Sans- Gene,  with  its 
mimic  presentment  of  Napoleon's  strength 
and  weakness,  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
plays  of  the  time. 

Nor  does  the  craze  run  riot  in  France 
alone.  It  reaches  more  extravagant  heights 
beyond  the  Atlantic  :  America  worships  the 
Napoleonic  idea;  it  is  the  best  "draw" 
possible  in  a  free  country  with  a  free  people, 
who  overlook  the  fact  that  he  was  the  most 
despotic  ruler  the  world  has  ever  known. 


EARLY  DAYS  3 

No  more  splendid  monument  has  been 
raised  to  his  grandeur  than  the  elaborate 
work  lately  prepared  by  Professor  Sloane. 
Here  in  England,  too,  the  country  of  his 
peculiar  and  persistent  aversion,  which  he 
never  dared  attack,  but  would  have  ruined 
insidiously  by  his  commercial  system, 
Napoleon  enjoys  unbounded  popularity. 
Every  book  about  him  is  read  with  avidity  ; 
new  works  elucidating  new  phases  in  his 
many-sided  character  appear  continually, 
and  are  welcomed  widely  ;  they  are  in  large 
demand  at  the  booksellers  and  the  lending 
libraries.  The  walls  of  the  Academy  year 
after  year  bear  witness  to  the  hold  he  has 
on  the  artistic  imagination ;  adaptations 
from  the  French  stage  attract  large  audiences 
at  London  theatres. 

It  is  easier  to  state  the  fact  than  explain 
it.  It  is  largely  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  con- 
tagion of  hero-worship,  the  ready  admiration 
accorded  by  the  crowd  of  smaller  men  to 
one  of  the  great  giants  of  the  human  race  : 
a  tribute  rendered  with  ungrudging  en- 
thusiasm, yet  a  little  inconsiderately,  even 
blindly,  forgetting  that  its  object  often  de- 
served detestation  rather  than  respect.     The 


4  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

effect  of  all  this  eulogy  and  panegyric  laid 
on  so  thickly  and  with  such  a  large  brush  is 
to  obscure  the  truth,  to  cover  up  the  faults, 
the  shortcomings,  the  really  malignant 
nature  of  the  man  himself.  He  is  presented 
to  us  as  the  mighty  conqueror,  the  incom- 
parable statesman,  the  far-seeing,  large- 
minded  administrator ;  we  hear  of  his 
unerring  generalship,  his  masterly  manipu- 
lation of  his  fellow-men  from  kings  to 
conscripts  ;  of  his  capacious  brain,  in  which 
details  innumerable  were  stored  ready  for 
immediate  use  ;  of  his  kindly,  winning  smile, 
his  unfailing  generosity  to  ungrateful  re- 
latives— everything,  in  short,  to  his  credit, 
nothing  of  his  crimes. 

For  if  he  was  a  great  genius,  the  greatest, 
perhaps,  the  world  has  seen,  he  was  also 
one  of  the  greatest  criminals.  It  may  seem 
to  pass  the  bounds  of  historical  criticism  to 
call  him  a  murderer,  a  brigand,  and  a  thief; 
yet  the  indictment  can  be  maintained  that 
he  was  all  these,  and  on  the  largest  scale. 
He  sent  men  wholesale  to  their  deaths  :  a 
couple  of  million  Frenchmen,  as  many  more 
of  other  races — allies  or  enemies — were 
butchered  to   create,   maintain,   or  defend 


EARLY  DAYS  5 

his  power.  He  remorselessly  slew  the  Due 
d'Enghien  to  secure  his  hold  of  the  throne. 
He  began  his  robberies  in  his  first  Italian 
campaign :  after  the  spoliation  of  specie 
and  cash  he  stole  territories  and  crowns. 
He  was  a  scourge  to  Europe  ;  his  path  was 
bloodshed  and  rapine  as  devastating  as  the 
cholera  or  the  "black  death."  And  all 
this  was  for  personal  aggrandisement,  the 
gratification  of  his  greed  and  lust  of  power, 
of  his  insatiable  hunger  for  conquest,  his 
cravings  for  military  renown.  He  was  no 
patriot ;  he  had  no  country  of  his  own. 
Since  Corsica  had  discarded  him,  he  fought 
for  his  own  hand,  not  for  France.  And 
France,  which  he  had  raised  for  a  short 
space  to  a  pinnacle  of  great  glory,  he  left 
torn  and  bleeding,  depopulated,  impover- 
ished, saved  only  from  dismemberment  by 
the  generous  championship  of  Wellington. 

This  is  the  truer  estimate  of  one  who 
was,  under  some  aspects,  a  devil  incarnate 
— a  monster  in  human  form,  as  he  has  been 
described  in  the  pages  of  Taine,  Lanfrey, 
Seeley,  and  a  few  more.  This  is  the  judicial 
view,  calm  and  dispassionate,  based  on  the 
plain  evidence  of  acts  and  conduct,  rising 


6  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

superior  to  sentiment.  Taine  explains 
Napoleon  as  a  fifteenth-century  survival,  a 
" throw-back"  to  another  race  in  an  earlier 
epoch  :  he  is  a  freak  of  nature  reproducing 
the  great  Italian  tyrants,  the  all-powerful 
condottieri,  the  soldiers  of  fortune  who, 
striking  out  boldly  at  great  stakes,  raised 
themselves  to  thrones  or  perished  in  the 
attempt.  Napoleon  was  one  by  inheri- 
tance, an  Italian  of  clear,  straight  descent,  a 
child  of  the  land  that  produced  the  Sforzas, 
the  Viscontis,  the  Borgias,  "a  posthumous 
brother  of  Dante  and  Michael  Angelo," 
ranking  with  them  in  mental  qualities. 
"His  genius,"  says  Taine,  "is  of  the  same 
stature,  the  same  structure  ;  he  is  one  of 
the  three  sovereign  minds  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  except  that  while  the  two 
first  work  on  paper  or  hiarble,  the  last 
operates  on  the  living  being,  on  the  sensi- 
tive suffering  flesh  of  humanity."  It  is  this 
which  constitutes  Napoleon  an  evil-doer. 
Crime  has  been  well  defined  as  a  refusal  to 
abide  by  rules  that  men,  for  their  general 
protection,  agree  to  call  binding.  Napoleon 
accepted  no  such  obligation  ;  he  set  all  such 
rules  at  defiance  ;  his  arrogant,  all-embracing 


EARLY  DAYS  7 

egoism  was  above  the  law ;  the  eternal  ego, 
the  limitless  selfishness,  cold-blooded  and 
calculating,  that  gathered  in  everything  to 
his  support,  needed  in  his  opinion  no 
explanation  or  justification. 

We  may  accept  Taine's  as  a  psychological 
explanation.  Napoleon's  extraordinary  gifts 
were,  no  doubt,  congenital :  first  and  last 
he  was  an  Italian.  It  was  to  be  seen 
in  his  features,  in  his  accent,  in  his  ways. 
The  fine  face,  with  its  clear-cut,  classical 
profile,  the  rich  lips,  the  strong,  well- 
modelled  chin,  reproduced  the  best  type  of 
the  Italian  antique.  He  talked  French  with 
the  accent  of  a  foreigner,  more  Corsican 
than  Italian,  for  in  the  language  of  his 
ancestors  he  was  never  perfectly  fluent. 
His  manners,  his  gestures,  were  Italian. 
His  fierce  explosions  of  rage,  often  purposely 
assumed  by  this  most  consummate  actor  of 
any  part,  the  torrents  of  his  talk,  when 
roused,  objurgatory,  persuasive,  poetic,  with 
all  the  powers  of  the  improvisatore — all 
these  were  traits  of  the  impassioned  South. 

We  must  seek  beyond  atavism  and 
heredity  for  the  secret  of  Napoleon's 
marvellous  development.     "The  miracle  of 


8  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

his  rise  to  power  lies  not  so  much  in  his 
personality  as  in  the  time."  He  was  really 
the  product  of  his  epoch  ;  but  for  the  milieu 
in  which  he  was  planted,  his  vast  genius 
would  never  have  properly  expanded.  He 
found  his  opportunity  in  the  state  of  France 
after  the  Revolution ;  he  came  to  the  sur- 
face after  a  tremendous  upheaval,  which 
had  torn  up  and  dislocated  all  old  insti- 
tutions ;  they  were  lying  there  ready  to  be 
pieced  together  by  the  master  hand,  whether 
for  the  national  advantage  or  for  his 
own  ends.  The  weapon,  too,  was  already 
fashioned  for  the  craftsman.  When  France, 
having  aroused  the  antagonism  of  all  Europe, 
unanimously  flew  to  arms  in  her  own 
defence,  she  laid  the  foundation  of  her 
own  enslavement  by  the  first  unscrupulous 
soldier  that  dared  to  wield  the  sword.  It 
must  never  be  forgotten  that  Napoleon  did 
not  create  the  situation  that  eventually  gave 
him  his  supremacy.  It  already  existed  before 
he  came  to  the  front.  More  :  under  different 
circumstances,  had  fate  so  ruled,  its  advan- 
tages, with  its  tremendous  results,  might 
have  been  snatched  at  by  some  other 
soldier  of  the  Republic.     But  for  the  luck 


EARLY  DAYS  9 

that  stood  by  Bonaparte  in  his  early  years  : 
the  chance  that  he  escaped  the  English 
cruisers  in  the  Mediterranean  on  his  return 
from  Egypt ;  the  miscarriage  of  Kleber's 
letter  that  warned  the  Directory  against 
the  coming  conspiracy  ;  the  death  of  Hoche, 
so  premature,  yet  so  fortunate  for  his  rival 
that  the  almost  impossible  theory  has  been 
started  that  Bonaparte  had  had  him  poisoned 
— but  for  those  happy  accidents — some 
other  military  adventurer  would  probably, 
nay,  inevitably,  have  become  master  of 
France.  Moreau,  Bernadotte,  Desaix,  Mas- 
sena,  and  many  more  were  capable  of 
winning  great  victories.  Supreme  power 
lay  within  the  grasp  of  any  successful 
soldier.  We  may  go  further,  and  wonder 
whether  a  smaller  man  would  not  have  been 
a  greater  benefactor  to  France.  A  lesser 
ambition  would  have  been  contented  with 
less  showy  but  still  sufficiently  solid  achieve- 
ments. The  immensity  of  Napoleon's  genius, 
the  fever  of  his  restless,  far-reaching  mind, 
were  as  mischievous  to  his  country  as  they 
proved  disastrous  to  himself. 

That   there   is   no   exaggeration   in   this 
severe  judgment  of  Napoleon,  it  may  be 


io  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

pointed  out  that  he  formed  much  the  same 
opinion  of  himself.  Despite  the  powers  of 
his  imagination,  his  constant  habit  of  taking 
things  as  he  wished  them  to  be,  and  not  as 
they  were,  he  had  no  illusions  about  him- 
self. He  once  roundly  confessed  that  he 
believed  it  would  have  been  better  for  the 
whole  world  if  neither  he  nor  Rousseau  had 
ever  lived.  Again,  when  one  of  his  most 
devoted  adherents  enlarged  upon  the  regrets 
that  would  be  felt  at  his  death,  Napoleon 
corrected  him,  "Not  at  all,"  and  drawing 
in  his  breath,  as  with  a  sense  of  infinite 
relief,  he  said,  "  They'll  cry,  *  Ouf !  we  are 
well  rid  of  him.'  "  He  never  tried  to  deceive 
himself  as  to  his  real  aims  :  he  meant  to  be 
master,  an  autocrat  universal  and  omnipo- 
tent. Yet  he  had  no  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  his  power,  the  abiding  perma- 
nence of  his  rule.  "  It  will  last  just  as  long 
as  I  do.  After  me,  my  son  may  deem 
himself  fortunate  if  he  has  forty  thousand 
francs  a  year."  He  deeply  pitied  his  poor, 
weak  little  son  at  the  weight  of  the  troubles 
he  would  bequeath  him. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  born,  according 


CHARLES   BONAPARTE,  FATHER   OF   NAPOLEON 
born  1746  ;  died  1785) 


EARLY  DAYS  13 

to  the  official  registers,  on  August  15,  1769. 
Some  doubt  has  been  cast  upon  the  accuracy 
of  this  date,  but  if  we  accept  it  we  must 
believe  also  that  Napoleon  narrowly  escaped 
being  born  an  Englishman — a  strange  cir- 
cumstance upon  which  but  little  stress  has 
been  laid  hitherto.  This  date  has  been 
called  in  question.  It  has  been  said  that 
Napoleon  was  really  the  eldest  son,  and 
Joseph  the  second :  that  the  Corsican 
registers  had  been  tampered  with  in  order 
to  allow  Charles  Bonaparte,  the  father,  to 
accept  the  nomination  at  Brienne  for  the 
child  most  fitted  for  a  military  career. 
Napoleon  is  said  to  have  himself  hinted 
that  he  was  born  in  1768  ;  but  the  other  is 
the  date  recorded  in  history ;  it  is  that  on 
which  the  Emperor's  birthday  was  kept,  on 
his  own  authority ;  the  day  on  which  he 
assured  Bourrienne,  when  they  were  at 
school  together,  that  he  was  born.  The 
later  year  has,  therefore,  the  strongest 
evidence  to  support  it,  and  it  supports 
the  curious  theory,  just  advanced,  that 
he  might  have  been  an  Englishman. 

Charles   Bonaparte   had  been  the  friend 
and  favourite  aide-de-camp  of  Paoli,  and 


i4  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

when  Corsica  submitted  to  France  in  1769 
the  disappointed  patriot  urged  the  young 
man  to  accompany  him  into  exile.  Napoleon 
in  after  years  was  of  opinion  that  his  father 
should  have  done  so ;  he  went  further,  and 
declared  that  he  would  never  forgive  his 
father  for  his  desertion  of  Paoli. 

Paoli  withdrew  to  England,  where  other 
Corsicans  followed  him.  Their  children 
were  born  in  this  country,  educated  here, 
naturalised  here,  lived  and  died  here.  One, 
Count  Rivarola,  served  as  an  officer  in  the 
English  army.  Can  imagination  take  a 
wilder  flight  than  in  picturing  Napoleon 
with  the  King's  commission,  his  military 
talents  shut  down  in  the  regimental  ranks, 
for  he  would  have  lacked  the  influence 
and  family  connections  that  were  in  those 
days  indispensable  for  advancement  in  the 
English  army !  He  would  have  been  an 
old  subaltern,  at  most  a  captain  in  some 
marching  regiment,  serving  perhaps  under 
Field-Marshal  the  Marquis  of  Wellington 
in  the  invasion  of  France.  Or  say  that  he 
had  thrown  himself  into  some  other  career, 
that  he  had  been  foiled  in  his  natural  bent 
towards  the  profession  of  arms — which  has 


LETITIA    RAMOLINO   BONAPARTE,    MOTHER    OF   NAPOLEON 

{born  1750 ;  died  1836) 


EARLY  DAYS  17 

been  not  unreasonably  attributed  to  his 
mother's  sharing  the  father's  military 
adventures — where  and  to  what  heights 
would  ,his  energies  have  carried  him  ? 
Would  he  have  gone  East  or  West,  to 
the  Old  World  or  the  New,  as  explorer, 
coloniser,  or  pioneer  of  English  progress  ? 
Would  he  have  forced  fortune  to  yield  him 
a  prize  in  other  lines — in  literature,  in  which 
he  showed  a  fine  quality  ;  in  finance,  utilising 
his  genius  for  figures  ;  at  the  Bar,  where  he 
might  have  made  his  mark  as  an  impassioned 
advocate  ? 

These  speculations  may  be  unprofitable, 
but  they  are  somewhat  fascinating.  It  is 
deeply  interesting  to  consider  how  nearly 
Napoleon  became  a  child  of  the  country  he 
afterwards  viewed  with  such  persistent  and 
implacable  hatred — hatred  which  after  all 
was  neither  causeless  nor  unreasoning. 
England,  it  must  be  remembered,  alone 
defied  and  defeated  him.  It  was  England 
that  shattered  his  dream  of  an  Eastern 
empire ;  English  ships  that  broke  his  naval 
power;  English  subsidies  that  kept  Conti- 
nental armies  in  the  field  against  him ;  an 
English  "General  of  Sepoys"  first  sapped 


18  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  fabric  of  his  military  power.  In  a 
word,  it  was  English  resistance,  English 
victories  over  his  hitherto  invincible  troops, 
that  first  weighted  his  soaring  wings ; 
English  means  that  dragged  him  down  and 
completed  his  overthrow.  It  was  England 
that  flouted  and  humiliated  him  most 
ungenerously,  leaving  him,  the  chained  and 
drooping  eagle,  to  eat  out  his  heart  on  the 
lonely  rock  of  St  Helena. 

Authentic  accounts  of  the  early  years  of 
great  men  seldom  survive ;  stories  told  of 
them  are  likely  to  be  apocryphal,  manu- 
factured in  after  life,  the  exaggerations  of 
either  sycophants  or  detractors.  We  have 
no  very  clear  knowledge  of  the  young 
Napoleon.  He  appears  to  have  exhibited 
no  great  precocity.  If  Madame  Junot  is  to 
be  believed,  he  once  nobly  shielded  a  small 
sister  from  the  consequences  of  her  miscon- 
duct, the  theft  of  fruit  from  their  uncle,  the 
Canon.  He  bore  the  blame  and  took  the 
punishment — to  be  shut  up  in  a  cupboard 
for  three  days  on  starvation  diet  of  bread 
and  cheese  —and  neither  protested  nor  cried. 
He  was  a  sturdy  child ;  he  might  be  whipped 
and  would  shed  tears,  but  he  would  never 


EARLY  DAYS  21 

beg  pardon.  His  nurse  Saveria,  whom  he 
afterwards  loaded  with  gifts  and  re- 
membered in  his  will,  said  that  of  the 
thirteen  Bonaparte  children  (eight  of  whom 
only  survived)  Napoleon  was  the  one  that 
gave  the  least  promise  of  future  greatness. 
He  was  never  a  pretty  boy,  like  his  brother 
Joseph.  His  head  was  too  big  for  his 
body  ;  his  eyes,  a  chief  charm  afterwards, 
were  not  noticeable  in  childhood,  nor  his 
smile,  that  could  be  so  inexpressibly  sweet 
and  winning. 

We  have  him  brought  more  clearly  before 
us  as  his  boyhood  advanced.  At  Brienne, 
which  he  entered  in  1780,  he  was  rather 
out  of  his  element  among  a  crowd  of  school- 
mates, sons  of  the  old  noblesse  with  whom 
he  had  little  in  common  ;  he  shunned  their 
society,  and  was  a  silent,  solitary,  serious- 
minded  lad.  Bourrienne  was  one  of  the 
few  friends  he  made ;  attached  to  him 
because,  as  he  told  him,  "You  like  me; 
you  never  laugh  at  me,"  for  uncouthness, 
poverty,  the  jargon  he  talked.  Napoleon's 
childish  reserve  was  no  doubt  deepened  by 
the  agitations  of  his  childhood.  He  had 
breathed  an  atmosphere  of  acute  political 


22  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

passion  when  others  at  his  age  played  with 
toys.  He  brought  his  ardent  patriotism 
with  him  to  Brienne — his  hatred  of  France. 
So  bitter  was  his  resentment  against  those 
who  had  wronged  his  beloved  Corsica  that 
he  burst  out  into  fierce  revilings  when  he 
saw  a  portrait  of  Choiseul  at  the  school. 
He  was  morose  and  discontented  at  find- 
ing himself  the  butt  of  richer  companions, 
unable  to  do  as  they  did ;  and  in  a  remark- 
able letter  to  his  father  he  begs  to  be 
allowed  to  return  home  if  he  cannot  "have 
the  means  of  sustaining  myself  more 
honourably  in  the  house  where  I  am.  .  .  . 
No,  father  .  .  .  take  me  from  Brienne,  and 
make  me,  if  you  will,  a  mechanic." 

The  priests  who  managed  Brienne, 
members  of  the  fraternity  of  the  Minims, 
were  not  the  most  learned  teachers,  but 
Napoleon,  in  the  lines  that  he  preferred, 
was  an  industrious  student.  He  excelled 
and  was  facile  princeps  in  mathematics  ;  he 
read  much  ancient  history,  chiefly  in  Latin 
authors,  the  works  of  Arrian,  Polybius, 
Plutarch,  and  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar. 
He  had  no  taste  for  languages.  As  a 
foreigner    he    was    backward   in    French ; 


EARLY  DAYS  23 

indeed,  on  first  joining  the  school,  he  spoke 
little  more  than  the  Corsican  patois,  and  he 
was  never  very  fluent  then  or  afterwards  in 
Italian,  which  he  would  only  speak  when 
forced  to  do  so,  often  using  French  words 
Italianised,   with   terminations   of  i,  o,  or 
a.     The  Vice-President,  Dupuis,  gave  him 
lessons  in   French,    a   language   he   never, 
however,    thoroughly  acquired.      He  could 
write  it  with  force  and  accuracy,  but  some 
ten  years  later  Madame  Junot  records  that 
"he  spoke  French  very   badly,   frequently 
committing  the  grossest  faults  of  language." 
He    spelt    it     abominably    always — using, 
after  the  Italian  fashion,  g's  for  c's,  writing 
"  enfin  que  "  "  enfant  que,"  and  "  infanterie  " 
"enfanterie."     He  studied   military   topics 
keenly,  and  early  displayed  faculties  of  com- 
mand,   if  we   are   to  believe   Bourrienne's 
story  of  the  snow  fortifications  erected  at 
Brienne,  which,  under  Napoleon's  auspices, 
were  attacked  and  defended,  assaulted  and 
captured  by  the   students  commanded   by 
the  future  conqueror  of  Europe. 

It  was  at  this  time  recorded  of  him  by 
his  teachers  that  he  was  "  taciturn,  fond 
of  solitude,  capricious,  haughty,  extremely 


24  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

disposed  to  egotism,  seldom  speaking, 
energetic  in  his  answers,  sharp  and  ready 
in  repartee,  full  of  self-love,  ambitious, 
and  of  unbounded  aspirations."  The  final 
report  on  him  by  the  inspector,  Comte  de 
Keralio,  was  satisfactory.  He  was  said  to 
be  ''forward  in  mathematics,  tolerably  well 
acquainted  with  geography  and  history,  had 
made  but  little  progress  in  Latin,  belles 
lettres,  or  other  accomplishments,  bore  a 
good  character,  would  make  a  good  sea- 
officer,  and  deserved  to  be  sent  to  the  Ecole 
Militaire  in  Paris."  He  passed  on  there  in 
due  course,  arriving  in  the  gay  city  a  true 
country  bumpkin,  having  all  the  appearance 
of  a  fresh  importation,  gaping  and  staring 
with  wonder  at  everything  he  saw. 

His  troubles  and  annoyances  were  the 
same  in  Paris  as  at  Brienne,  but  greatly 
emphasised.  The  discipline  of  the  higher 
establishment  was  easier,  and  in  the  license 
given  to  the  pupils,  mostly  of  the  jeunesse 
doree,  free  of  cash  and  fond  of  pleasure, 
the  penniless  young  Corsican  was  more  than 
ever  dissatisfied.  He  railed  fiercely  against 
the  existing  regime,  and  drew  up  a  memorial 
condemning   indignantly  the   idleness   and 


EAELY  DAYS  25 

luxury  of  the  school,  which,  to  his  practical 
mind,  were  so  little  in  accord  with  the 
proper  training   for  a  military   life.     This 


FACSIMILE  OF  MEMORANDA  MADE  BY  NAPOLEON  ON  BOTH  SIDES  OF  A 
CARD  WHILE  ATTENDING  LECTURES  ON  MINERALOGY  IN  PARIS 
BEFORE   THE  SIEGE   OF   TOULON 

outspoken  criticism  made  him  very  gener- 
ally unpopular  in  the  school,  while  he  w^as 
sharply  rebuked  by  his  elders  for  speaking 
so  freely  when  he  was  only  a  pensioner 
dependent  on  the  King's  bounty.     He  re- 


26  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

pelled  people  who  would  have  been  kind  to 
him.  His  pride,  the  pardonable  luxury  of 
a  pauper,  made  him  reject  readily  all  offers 
of  pecuniary  aid.  If  we  realise  that  by 
this  time  he  had  felt  within  him  the  first 
awakenings  of  genius,  the  intuitive  know- 
ledge that  he  was  capable  of  great  things, 
and  as  yet  had  no  horizon,  no  future,  we 
cannot  withhold  our  sympathy  from  the 
haughty,  hungry,  hopelessly  ambitious  cadet 
of  sixteen. 

They  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  Bonaparte, 
the  young  firebrand,  the  root-and-branch 
reformer,  from  the  l^cole  Militaire.  His 
nomination  to  the  artillery  was  hurried 
forward  and  he  became  in  1786  a  second 
lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  La  Fere.  He 
presented  rather  a  ludicrous  figure,  according 
to  Madame  Junot,  the  first  time  he  came  to 
her  mother's  house  in  uniform.  His  little 
thin  legs  seemed  buried  in  his  wide  top- 
boots  ;  he  was  sallow-faced,  insignificant, 
and  so  awkward  in  his  movements  that  he 
was  greeted  with  shouts  of  laughter.  Her 
little  sister  christened  him  "  Puss  in  Boots," 
and  Napoleon  took  the  ridicule  in  very  bad 
part;    indeed,  it  still  rankled  in  his  mind 


EARLY  DAYS  27 

when  he  was  master  of  France.  Another 
contemporary  picture  describes  him  as 
ungainly  in  his  person,  unprepossessing, 
diminutive ;  his  only  fine  feature  being 
his  lustrous  eyes,  which  "  seemed  to  gaze 
deep  into  futurity,  and  to  read  the  inmost 
thoughts  of  those  who  conversed  with  him." 
We  can  follow  the  young  artillery  officer 
from  garrison  to  garrison,  from  Valence  to 
Lyons,  Lyons  to  Douai,  Paris,  Auxonne. 
His  fortunes  were  still  narrow.  He  had  to 
borrow  money  from  a  tailor  in  Paris  to  get 
means  to  join,  and  even  then  had  to  walk 
part  of  the  way  to  Valence.  His  pay  was 
no  more  than  £36  per  annum,  with  £5  a 
year  for  lodging,  and  £8  from  the  Royal 
Bounty  as  a  pupil  of  Brienne.  Yet  he  had 
to  send  help  to  his  family,  for  Charles 
Bonaparte  was  dead  and  had  left  his  wife 
and  family  almost  in  destitution.  Napoleon's 
melancholy  grew  upon  him ;  he  brooded 
much  alone.  Despair  at  the  dark  future 
prompted  him  at  Auxonne  to  contemplate 
suicide.  ' '  Life  is  a  burthen  to  me,  because 
I  enjoy  no  pleasure,"  he  wrote  in  a  fragment 
about  this  time.  "  In  what  direction  do 
my  thoughts  turn  to-day  ?    In  the  direction 


28  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  death."  A  little  later  he  writes:  "I 
have  no  other  resource  but  in  work.  I 
dress  myself  only  once  a  week"  [one 
wonders  how  he  attended  parades  and 
what  his  superior  officers  thought  of  this]. 
"I  go  to  bed  at  ten  p.m.,  and  rise  at  four 
in  the  morning."  He  was  most  assiduous 
in  improving  himself.  He  read  every  book 
he  could  lay  his  hands  upon,  some  of  them 
half-a-dozen  times  over.  He  had  dreams 
now  of  literary  distinction,  wrote  several 
brochures,  The  Dialogue  of  Love,  a  com- 
petition essay  on  The  Truths  that  Produce 
Happiness,  the  Narrative  of  the  Mashed 
Prophet.  He  was  at  work  upon  a  drama, 
to  be  called  the  "Comte  d'Essex,"  and  he 
planned  a  great  and  exhaustive  history  of 
Corsica. 

The  first  revelation  of  the  true  man,  the 
first  awakening  of  his  leaping  ambition, 
came  with  the  French  Kevolution.  Napoleon 
was  still  a  Corsican,  a  foreigner  in  the 
French  service,  and  in  the  general  cataclysm 
he  seemed  to  see  a  chance  of  giving  freedom 
to  his  native  island.  It  was  no  doubt  one 
for  Corsica  and  two  for  himself.  Here  was 
an  opening  to  be  turned  to  his  own  advan- 


EARLY  DAYS  29 

tage :  if  he  attached  himself  to  Paoli,  now 
back  in  his  own  country,  he  might  rise 
with  him,  might  secure  the  reversion  of  his 
power.  So  Bonaparte  hastened  to  Ajaccio 
and  offered  his  services  to  his  father's  old 
friend  and  leader.  Paoli,  who  greeted  the 
young  Napoleon  with  great  cordiality,  was 
much  struck  with  him,  with  his  force  of 
character,  his  originality,  his  fiery  spirit, 
with  his  clearly-marked  military  aptitudes, 
and  unhesitatingly  predicted  a  great  future 
for  him. 

Bonaparte  now  threw  himself  with  great 
vehemence  into  the  troubled  sea  of  Corsican 
politics ;  his  aim  was  to  keep  in  the  fore- 
front, to  head  any  and  every  movement — a 
bold,  unscrupulous  intriguer.  This  youth 
of  little  more  than  twenty  soon  gave  a  clear 
foretaste  of  his  masterful  spirit.  He  was 
resolved  to  obtain  the  command  of  a  newly- 
raised  battalion  of  national  guards,  although 
actually  disqualified  as  an  officer  of  the 
regular  army,  and  secured  it  by  an  act  of 
vive  force,  arresting  the  commissary  charged 
with  the  election,  who  was  hostile  to  him, 
and  following  up  the  outrage  with  further 
violence  against  those  who  protested.     He 


30  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

espoused,  too,  the  cause  of  these  volunteers 
in  a  quarrel  with  the  municipality,  and 
made  a  daring  attempt  to  seize  the  citadel 
of  Ajaccio  by  a  coup  de  main.  The  inter- 
vention of  the  French  troops  alone  saved 
it.  Bonaparte  was  sent  off*  by  Paoli  to  the 
centre  of  the  island,  where,  feeling  he  had 
made  a  mistake,  he  wrote  elaborate  excuses 
to  the  authorities  in  Corsica  and  Paris.  At 
the  same  time,  the  French  Commandant 
sent  his  version,  and  had  the  times  been 
less  troublous  Bonaparte  would  assuredly 
have  been  tried  by  court-martial. 

At  this  period  he  was  in  a  state  of  de- 
sertion from  the  French  army.  He  had 
been  struck  off  the  strength  for  absence 
without  leave.  No  very  strong  sense  of 
discipline  existed  just  then,  and  officers 
came  and  went  very  much  as  they  pleased. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  since  his  first  return 
to  Corsica  had  constantly  passed  back- 
wards and  forwards,  obtaining  leave  on 
some  excuse  or  other,  leave,  and  yet  more 
leave — sometimes,  when  it  suited  him,  ab- 
senting himself  without  leave.  Between 
his  first  joining  at  Valence  in  1786  and  the 
end  of  1791  he  had  been  away  three  years 


EARLY  DAYS 


3i 


in  all.  Little  notice  was  taken  of  this 
neglect  of  duty,  and  his  absences  brought 
no  penalty  until,  on  January  1,  1792,  he 
was  struck  off  the  rolls  of  his  regiment. 

Now,  after  the  exploit  at  Ajaccio,  the 
turbulent  young  soul,  who  never  forgot  the 
main  chance,  felt  that  it  was  high  time  for 
him  to  make  his  peace  in  Paris.  He  went 
fortified  by  letters  and  certificates  that  he 
had  been  detained  in  Corsica  on  duty. 
The  French  War  Office  was  too  busy  to 
sift  evidence  ;  in  too  great  confusion,  having 
had  six  different  War  Ministers  in  as  many 
months ;  too  willing,  in  the  general  exodus 
of  loyalist  officers,  to  retain  whom  it  could  ; 
and  Bonaparte's  desertion  and  late  escapade 
were  forgiven.  His  conduct  was  strongly 
condemned,  but,  after  beating  the  streets 
of  Paris  from  May  till  October,  he  was  re- 
instated in  the  artillery  with  the  rank  of 
captain.  With  admirable  effrontery  he  at 
once  demanded  another  step  in  rank,  on 
the  ground  that,  although  disqualified,  he 
had  commanded  a  battalion  in  Corsica. 
This  was  deemed  a  little  too  much,  and  the 
presumptuous  request  was  put  away  with 
out  answer,  endorsed  "  Sans  reponse." 


32  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

He  was  in  sore  straits  at  this  time,  per- 
haps the  lowest  ebb  of  his  fortunes  :  hard  put 
to  it  for  a  meal,  often  without  a  sou  in  his 
pocket,  forced  to  part  with  his  books  and 
his  clothes  for  subsistence.  Bourrienne 
and  he  had  renewed  acquaintance,  and 
were  much  together.  They  were  in  company 
when  the  Tuileries  was  attacked  by  the 
mob,  saw  the  insults  offered  the  King,  were 
present  at  some  of  the  most  horrible  scenes 
of  the  dread  revolutionary  drama.  Bona- 
parte's sympathies  were  not  with  the  crowd. 
He  was  a  man  of  order.  The  future  auto- 
crat was  on  the  side  of  authority.  At  the 
sack  of  the  palace  he  cried  to  Bourrienne  : 
"  Why  not  shoot  the  canaille  down  ?  "  But 
if  this  was  his  instinct,  his  inner  belief, 
outwardly  he  gave  in  his  adhesion  to  the 
revolutionary  ideas.  He  went  with  the 
strongest,  and  what  he  now  saw  in  Paris 
changed  his  views  and  his  plans.  He  saw 
at  once  with  his  tremendous  sagacity  that 
Paris,  France,  the  Revolution  offered  him 
a  larger  field  than  the  parochial  politics 
of  his  circumscribed  Corsica.  When  he 
returned,  as  he  did  that  same  winter, 
he   had   "  ratted."      He   was   the    avowed 


THE  YOUNG    ARTILLERY   OFFICER 
{From  a  portrait  attributed  to  Prudhon) 


EARLY  DAYS  35 

enemy  now  of  his  compatriots  and  former 
friends. 

Corsica  was  now  in  conflict  with  the 
Convention,  the  French  Government  of  the 
hour.  An  effort  was  made  to  cajole  Paoli 
into  visiting  Paris,  where  his  head  would 
have  soon  fallen  ;  but  he  wisely  refused  to 
go,  and  was  supported  by  the  people.  That 
once  ardent  patriot  Bonaparte  had  now  to 
decide  on  which  side  he  would  range  him- 
self, and  he  did  not  hesitate  long.  There 
had  been  a  growing  estrangement  between 
him  and  Paoli,  and  he  had  had  enough  of 
Corsica.  He  turned  traitor  forthwith,  and 
once  again  secretly  planned  the  seizure  of 
the  citadel  of  Ajaccio  on  behalf  of  the 
French.  The  plot,  despite  its  astute  pre- 
paration, failed,  and  Bonaparte,  now  utterly 
discredited,  had  to  fly  from  the  island. 
He  escaped  in  the  disguise  of  a  sailor,  and 
the  whole  Bonaparte  family  fled  to  the 
mainland ;  their  house  in  Ajaccio  was 
plundered  and  burnt ;  they  were  strangers 
henceforth  in  their  own  country.  Napoleon 
in  after  years  took  no  thought  for  the 
land  of  his  birth.  He  never  revisited  the 
island  he  pretended  to  love  so  passionately  : 


36  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

except  in  the  gift  of  a  drinking  fountain, 
he  never  remembered  or  did  anything  for 
Corsica. 

The  flight  of  the  Bonapartes  has  been 
aptly  styled  the  Napoleonic  Hegira.  For 
some  time  the  family  dragged  on  in  extreme 
penury  in  Marseilles ;  they  were  political 
refugees  and  would  have  starved  but  for 
the  pittance  allowed  to  such  as  they  by 
the  Convention.  Caroline,  afterwards  Queen 
of  Naples,  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  and 
at  the  same  time  most  vicious,  women  of 
her  time,  did  the  work  of  housemaid. 
Joseph  was  a  clerk  in  an  oil  warehouse, 
Lucien  was  a  petit  employe,  and  Napoleon 
himself  returned  to  do  duty  with  his  regi- 
ment. He  is  said  to  have  been  greatly  cast 
down  and  discouraged.  His  prospects  were 
nil;  he  was  still  no  more  than  a  captain 
of  artillery  engaged  in  petty  business— 
the  suppression  of  a  local  rising,  the  super- 
vision of  coast  defences.  Others  of  his 
age  and  standing  were  leaping  into  great 
fame.  Hoche  and  Marceau  commanded 
armies  in  the  field ;  Pichegru,  his  old 
tutor  and  future  victim,  was  General-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  North,     He  alone 


EARLY  DAYS  37 

lingered  on  in  a  subordinate  grade,  crushed 
with  family  responsibilities  which,  to  his 
credit  be  it  said,  he  never  ignored. 

Charles  Bonaparte,  when  dying,  had  be- 
queathed to  his  second  son  the  question- 
able boon  of  being  the  future  head  of  the 
family.  It  was  the  only  inheritance  he  left 
except  that  other  more  positive  curse,  the 
cancer  of  the  liver  which  killed  him  and 
also  Napoleon.  The  young  man  accepted, 
and  strove  nobly  to  acquit  himself  of  the 
onerous  charge.  In  some  of  his  earlier 
letters  he  discusses  with  quite  mature 
judgment  his  brother's  qualities  and  fitness 
for  various  careers.  He  will  not  hear  of 
Joseph's  giving  up  the  Church,  for  which  he 
had  been  intended,  and  entering  the  army, 
for  which  he  is  unsuited.  He  took  the 
whole  charge  of  his  young  brother  Louis 
when  his  own  income  was  a  little  under  a 
franc  a  day,  lodged  him,  fed  him  on  the 
pot  an  feu  they  concocted  together,  taught 
him  all  he  knew.  So  dire  was  his  poverty 
at  that  time,  so  great  his  self-denial,  that  he 
breakfasted  oft* dry  bread,  and  never  entered 
a  cafe.  So  now,  when  a  first  glint  of 
sunshine  came,  he  was  glad  that  it  should 


38  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

fall  on  his  belongings.  He  owed  it  to  his 
strange  pamphlet,  Le  Souper  de  Beaucaire, 
a  defence  of  the  party  in  power,  and  of 
such  force  and  value  that  it  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  younger  Robespierre.  It 
was  really  a  new  confession  of  faith,  in 
which  the  young  adventurer  gave  free  vent 
to  his  ambitious  yearnings,  and  argued  that 
fate  refused  nothing  to  him  who  made  the 
most  of  his  opportunities. 

The  author  of  this  brochure  was  recog- 
nised as  full  of  talent  and  taken  in  hand. 
Pecuniary  help  was  given  Madame  Bona- 
parte ;  Joseph  was  appointed  a  war  com- 
missary, so  was  "Uncle  Fesch,"  and  the 
appointment  meant  money-making  ;  Lucien 
was  sent  to  St.  Maximin  as  a  commissary 
of  stores.  Napoleon  found  his  first  oppor- 
tunity of  military  distinction  in  the  happy 
accident  that  took  him  in  September  1793 
to  the  Siege  of  Toulon.  He  had  not  quite 
done  with  evil  fortune,  his  future  was  not 
yet  finally  assured,  but  at  Toulon  he  was 
brought  under  the  notice  of  Barras,  the 
man  who  two  years  later  called  him  in  to 
suppress  the  Sections,  and  really  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  greatness. 


CHAPTEE  II 

HIS   FIRST   CHANCES — 1793-1796 


APOLEON,  in  his  per- 
sonal memoirs  dictated 
at  St  Helena,  says  that 
he  was  expressly  sent 
by  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  to  com- 
mand the  artillery  at 
the  Siege  of  Toulon.  This  is  one  of  the  many 
mistakes  and  misstatements  that  fill  these 
mendacious  records  and  make  them  an 
untrustworthy  guide.  Las  Cases  is  equally 
in  error  when  he  declares  that  the  choice 
fell  upon  Bonaparte  because  of  his  excellent 

39 


4o  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

4 'notes,"  kept  in  the  Bureau  of  Artillery. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  young  Corsican 
was  on  his  way  to  rejoin  his  regiment  at 
Nice,  and  only  turned  aside  at  Toulon  to 
pay  his  respects  to  his  compatriot  Salicetti, 
who  was  watching  the  siege  as  one  of  the 
4 'Representatives  of  the  people."  Salicetti 
introduced  him  to  Carteau,  a  painter  by 
profession,  who  was  masquerading  as 
General  in  command,  and  who  proudly 
showed  Bonaparte  the  batteries  he  had 
armed  against  the  British  fleet.  The  prac- 
tical young  soldier,  scientifically  trained, 
pointed  out  with  scorn  that  the  shot  could 
not  reach  a  third  of  the  distance,  and  made 
so  many  trenchant  suggestions  that  he  was 
then  and  there  " detained"  to  serve  with 
his  arm  in  the  siege. 

Thenceforth  he  practically  commanded  it, 
the  artillery  General,  Duteil,  surrendering 
everything  into  his  hands.  The  fierce 
energy  Bonaparte  displayed,  backed  by 
consummate  skill  and  knowledge,  may  be 
seen  from  his  letter  to  the  War  Minister  a 
month  later  :  "  Three  days  after  my  arrival 
the  army  had  an  artillery.  ...  I  sent 
an  intelligent  officer  to  Lyons,    Grenoble, 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  41 

Briancon,  to  draw  all  that  could  be  useful 
to  me.  ...  I  requisitioned  guns  from  the 
Army  of  Italy  .  .  .  and  from  the  Var.  .  .  . 
I  have  drawn  100  horses  from  Marseilles. 
...  I  have  procured  eight  bronze  guns 
from  Martigues.  ...  I  have  established 
an  arsenal  at  Oulliardes  (near  Toulon), 
where  eighty  blacksmiths  and  carpenters 
work  without  ceasing  .  .  .  and  a  park 
where  gabions,  hurdles,  fascines  are  being 
made."  He  gets  wood  to  make  gun  and 
mortar  platforms;  has  " incendiary  pro- 
jectiles" manufactured;  has  started  a 
foundry  at  Ardennes,  whence  he  soon  hopes 
to  have  supplies  of  grape  and  round  shot. 
What  he  most  wanted  was  powder,  and  he 
begs  the  War  Minister  to  exert  himself  to 
send  large  supplies.  All  this  time  Bona- 
parte stood  almost  alone  ;  he  had  to  control 
the  arsenal  and  the  batteries,  had  no  sous- 
qfficiers  of  artisans,  and  only  fifty  gunners, 
many  of  them  recruits. 

We  can  picture  this  resolute,  far-seeing 
young  soldier  at  the  council  of  war  when 
the  plans  of  attack  sent  from  Paris  were 
discussed  by  the  assembled  Generals  and 
staff.      These    plans    imposed    investment 


42  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  a  regular  siege,  impossible  operations 
with  the  force  available  :  yet  to  resist  or 
vary  the  execution  of  the  orders  received 
was  to  court  the  guillotine ;  to  fail,  equally 
meant  death.  Only  one  courageous  voice 
was  raised  in  opposition  :  Bonaparte  stood 
forth,  and  urged  in  clear,  convincing  lan- 
guage that  it  was  altogether  needless  to 
attack  Toulon  in  due  form.  The  key  to  the 
situation  was  the  harbour ;  if  that  could  be 
made  untenable  for  the  enemy's  fleet  the 
garrison  must  withdraw  or  surrender.  It 
could  not  afford  to  lose  its  only  line  of 
retreat.  "There  ! "  cried  Bonaparte,  putting 
his  finger  upon  a  point  in  the  plan  which 
commanded  both  harbours,  "  that  will  give 
you  Toulon."  Batteries  placed  there  could 
destroy  or  drive  away  the  fleet.  This  vital 
point  was  defended  by  a  strong  redoubt, 
which  was  presently  captured  by  assault,  and 
the  issue  was  as  Bonaparte  had  predicted. 
The  allied  fleet  carried  off  the  garrison  and 
many  of  the  inhabitants.  Toulon  was,  in 
fact,  evacuated  by  the  troops,  and  the  city 
left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Republicans. 

Bonaparte's  immediate  reward    was  the 


BONAPARTE 
(Painted  by  J.  Gucriti) 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  45 

rank  of  Brigadier- General  of  Artillery.  He 
began  now  to  loom  large  before  others  ;  to 
have  a  following,  the  first  members  of  that 
devoted  circle,  men  like  Marmont,  who 
"saw  so  much  future  in  his  mind,"  and 
were  ready  to  attach  themselves  blindly  to 
his  fortunes.  He  was  only  twenty-four, 
but,  as  he  told  the  Minister  who  upbraided 
him  with  his  youth,  "  People  age  quickly 
on  the  field  of  battle."  He  had  lived  fast 
in  this  volcanic  epoch,  had  been  tested 
early,  and  all  illusions,  all  tenderness  had 
been  burnt  away  in  the  fierce  fire.  What 
remained  was  ambition,  keen  and  persistent 
in  pursuit  of  some  great  aim  not  clearly 
understood  as  yet,  but  which  was  to  land 
him  high  above  the  general  chaos.  His 
temper  did  not  escape  the  shrewder 
observers  around  him.  General  Scherer 
reported  that  he  was  a  first-rate  artillery 
officer,  but  that  he  "had  too  much  ambi- 
tion," was  "too  much  given  to  intrigue  for 
promotion."  Sucy,  an  old  school- fellow, 
now  a  war  commissary,  said  that  Bona- 
parte would  stop  short  of  nothing  but  the 
throne  or  the  scaffold. 

He  had  found  a  warm  supporter  in  the 


46  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

younger  Kobespierre,  who  thought  him  "  an 
officer  of  transcendent  merit,  although  a 
Corsican."  This  friendship  with  a  member 
of  that  bloodthirsty  regime  nearly  involved 
him  in  their  well-deserved  overthrow. 
After  Toulon  he  had  acted  with  the  Army 
of  Italy,  and  seems  to  have  inspired,  although 
he  did  not  take  an  active  part  in,  the  cam- 
paign when  Massena  carried  the  French 
standards  for  the  first  time  into  Piedmont. 
Then  he  had  been  sent  on  a  special  mission 
to  Genoa,  ostensibly  to  demand  satisfaction 
for  an  outrage  upon  a  French  frigate,  really 
and  secretly  to  pave  the  way  to  the  seizure 
of  the  republic.  On  his  return,  and  while 
in  camp  near  Nice,  he  was  arrested  as  a 
friend  of  the  Robespierres,  although  the 
chief  charge  rested  on  his  recent  journey  to 
Genoa.  It  was  pretended  most  absurdly 
that  he  had  gone  there  to  betray  the  French 
military  plans  to  the  enemy.  "What  else 
could  take  him  there  ? "  asked  his  accusers. 
He  knew  best  what  was  in  the  minds  of 
the  Convention  ;  he  was  "  their  man,"  their 
"chief  adviser  and  plan-maker."  Had 
Bonaparte  been  taken  to  Paris  then,  he 
would  certainly  have  been  executed.     His 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  47 

companions  in  arms  knew  that,  and  some 
of  them — Junot,  Marmont  and  others — 
offered  to  rescue  him  and  march  on  Paris. 
After  an  imprisonment  of  thirteen  days 
he  was  released  :  a  strict  scrutiny  of  his 
papers  had  revealed  nothing  compromising  ; 
besides,  he  had  quite  cut  himself  adrift 
from  young  Robespierre,  whom  he  had 
I  liked  and  believed  honest,"  but  whom, 
"had  he  been  my  father,  I  myself  would 
have  stabbed  him  had  he  aspired  to 
tyranny."     Brave  words,  from  Bonaparte  ! 

Again  fortune  frowned.  An  order 
reached  him  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
which  transferred  him  from  the  south  to 
the  west ;  he  was  removed  from  the  Army 
of  Italy,  in  which  he  had  served  with  in- 
creasing distinction,  from  the  large  field  of 
the  Italian  frontier,  to  a  distant  command 
in  La  Vendee,  where  he  was  quite  unknown, 
and  would  be  employed  in  a  petty  civil  war. 
He  owed  this,  he  believed,  to  the  mean  spite 
of  Aubry,  a  former  comrade  in  the  artillery, 
whom  he  had  passed  over,  but  who  was 
now  War  Minister.  The  truer  reason  was 
that  there  were  too  many  Corsicans  in  that 
southern  army,  and   it  was   said   of  them 


48  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

that  they  were  better  known  for  their 
eagerness  to  make  money  than  their 
patriotism.  But  Aubry  was  no  doubt 
unfriendly  to  Bonaparte,  probably  from 
political  antagonism,  and  he  steadily  re- 
fused to  reverse  the  appointment  to  the 
western  army.  When  Bonaparte  reached 
Paris  to  protest  in  person,  Aubry  further 
embittered  his  decision  by  insisting  that 
Bonaparte  was  too  young  to  have  an 
artillery  command,  and  must  be  satisfied 
with  that  of  an  infantry  brigade.  "  A  great 
many  officers  would  command  a  brigade 
better  than  I  could,  few  could  command 
the  artillery  so  well,"  he  wrote  to  the 
Commissary  Sucy.  He  was  quite  broken- 
hearted, and  again  contemplated  suicide. 
"  I  shall  finish  by  not  getting  out  of  the 
way  of  the  carriages  as  they  pass."  It  has 
been  claimed  for  Napoleon  that  he  was 
generally  above  the  smaller  vices  of  vindic- 
tiveness,  and  readily  forgave  injuries,  but 
he  suffered  Aubry  in  after  years  to  pine 
away  in  the  penal  settlement  of  Cayenne 
when  a  word  would  have  released  him. 
But  the  esprit  de  corps  of  artillery  officers 
was  very  strong  in  this  day,  and  Bonaparte 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  49 

had  been  bitterly  offended  by  an  order  to 
serve  away  from  his  own  arm. 

But  he  did  not  go  west,  although  again 
ordered  to  report  himself  forthwith  to 
Hoche  at  Rennes.  He  found  a  complaisant 
doctor  to  give  him  a  certificate  of  ill-health, 
and  he  lingered  on  in  Paris,  in  very 
straitened  circumstances,  looking  askance 
at  the  gay  life  that  surrounded  him  and  yet 
taking  no  part  in  it.  Luxury  had  once 
more  raised  her  head  in  the  pleasantest 
capital  in  the  world  :  carriages  filled  the 
streets,  the  theatres  were  crowded  with 
fashionable  people,  especially  smart  women. 
If  Bonaparte's  head  was  old,  his  heart  was 
young  and  passionate;  he  had  a  keen  eye 
for  beauty.  "  Women  are  seen  everywhere 
— at  the  theatres,  in  the  promenades,  in 
the  libraries.  In  the  study  of  the  savant 
you  meet  very  pretty  persons.  .  .  .  They 
deserve  to  hold  the  helm ;  therefore,  the 
men  are  mad  about  them,  think  only  of 
them,  live  only  by  and  for  them."  "  Every- 
thing is  accumulated  in  this  country  to 
amuse  and  render  life  agreeable,"  he  writes 
to  Joseph.  Yet,  despite  the  general  gaiety, 
Paris   was  crippled  for  want  of  money ;  a 


50  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

terrible  financial  crisis  was  imminent;  the 
issue  of  assignats  had  destroyed  public 
credit ;  one  golden  louis  was  worth  £30. 
While  some  lived  riotously  the  masses 
starved.  Even  a  Brigadier-General,  the 
future  Emperor,  often  went  short  of  a 
dinner,  and  was   in   much   distress. 

Junot  was  his  faithful  and  attached  com- 
panion through  this  trying  period.  He  was 
not  without  means;  his  friends  in  the 
provinces  sometimes  sent  him  money,  and 
he  invariably  shared  it  with  Bonaparte. 
When  he  was  in  funds  he  sought  to  increase 
them  at  the  gaming-table,  where  he  was 
generally  lucky,  and  if  he  won  they  paid 
off  their  more  pressing  debts.  Bonaparte's 
affection  for  Junot  was  strong  and  lasting  ; 
he  paid  him  the  highest  compliment,  by 
saying,  "A  faithful  friend  is  the  true  image 
of  God."  Sometimes  handsome  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  who  had  made  a  rich  marriage 
by  this  time,  came  to  his  brother's  help 
with  a  remittance,  but  the  times  were  hard. 
The  young  General  went  very  shabby  and 
out  at  elbows.  Madame  Junot  describes 
him  as  she  saw  him  in  1793,  "  with  a  shabby 
round  hat  drawn  over  his  forehead,  and  his 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES 


5i 


ill-powdered  hair  hanging  over  the  collar 
of  his  grey  great-coat  .  .  .  without  gloves, 
because  they  were  a  useless  luxury,  with 
boots  ill-made   and  ill-blackened,  with  his 


GENERAL    BONAPARTE 
{From  a  Contemporary  Portrait) 


thinness  and  sallow  complexion,"  in  marked 
contrast  to  what  he  became  a  year  or  two 
later. 

Bonaparte's  sick  leave  expired  on  July 
14,  but  he  obtained  an  extension  till  August 
5,  when  he  petitioned  to  be  reappointed  to 


52  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  artillery,  from  which  he  had  moved 
when  given  an  infantry  brigade.  This 
petition  was  unfavourably  received.  On 
August  16  he  was  ordered  peremptorily  to 
join  his  command ;  if  his  health  would  not 
permit  him  he  must  be  replaced.  Now  he 
appealed  to  Barras  and  other  friends,  and 
he  was  at  last  given  a  place  in  the  Topo- 
graphical Branch  of  the  War  Office  by 
Pontecoulant,  the  new  War  Minister.  He 
did  admirable  work  here ;  it  was  of  a 
kind  for  which  he  was  supremely  well 
fitted.  It  was  at  this  time  that  his  fertile 
brain  turned  eastward.  The  Sublime  Porte 
had  asked  for  French  artillery  officers  to 
reorganise  their  service,  and  Bonaparte  put 
his  name  forward  for  a  post  that  appealed 
to  his  imagination  with  its  boundless  possi- 
bilities. He  had  no  great  hopes  that  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  would  spare 
him :  "  Having  charged  me  with  the  direc- 
tion of  armies  and  the  plans  of  campaign, 
which  is  highly  flattering,  they  will  not,  I 
fear,  allow  me  to  go  to  Turkey." 

There  was  no  exaggeration  in  this  state- 
ment. Bonaparte  had  actually  drawn  up 
for    Kellermann   and    Scherer,   then   com- 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  53 

manding  in  Italy,  a  scheme  of  operations  so 
bold  and  original  that  these  Generals  stood 
aghast.  The  first  called  it  the  work  of  a 
lunatic ;  the  second  contemptuously  asked 
that  the  man  who  conceived  it  had  better 
put  it  into  execution.  This  did  in  effect 
come  to  pass.  For  the  plan  is  very  much 
that  of  Napoleon's  first  campaign  in  1796, 
and  aimed  at  the  separation  and  successive 
overthrow  of  the  two  armies  opposed  to 
the  French.  Each  had  a  different  mission  ; 
the  one  to  cover  Piedmont,  the  other 
Lombardy,  and  by  a  prompt  initiative  it 
might  be  possible  to  defeat  each  in  turn. 
After  that  an  advance  to  the  Adige  would 
overawe  the  States  of  Venice ;  while  a 
hand  was  held  out  by  the  Tyrol  to  the 
French  armies  engaged  upon  the  Rhine. 

Yet  the  author  of  this  admirable  paper 
was  still  in  disgrace.  On  the  very  day  that 
the  Foreign  Office  reported  in  favour  of  his 
employment  by  the  Grand  Turk,  his  name 
was  formally  erased  from  the  list  of  general 
officers  actively  employed.  His  offence  was 
the  old  one,  that  he  had  failed  to  take  up 
his  command  in  La  Vendee.  This  blow 
came  from  Letourneur,  who  had  succeeded 


54  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Pontecoulant  at  the  War  Office,  and  whom 
Bonaparte  had  displeased.  Nothing  worse 
could  well  happen  to  him.  This  must 
surely  be  the  end  of  all  his  military 
aspirations ;  his  career  was  closed,  as  it 
seemed.  Yet  within  a  week  the  situation 
had  entirely  changed.  His  chance  came — 
the  tide  turned,  and  he  was  carried  on  the 
flood  to  high  fortune. 

The  history  of  the  13th  Vendemiaire 
(October  5)  is  too  well  known  to  need 
detailed  description.  It  was  the  protest  of 
the  people  of  Paris  against  the  pretensions 
of  the  National  Convention,  which  aimed, 
it  was  thought,  at  perpetual  power.  It  had 
been  called  into  existence  merely  to  make 
a  Constitution,  but  it  had  carried  on  the 
government  since  1792.  Now,  in  1795,  it 
would  not  separate  without  some  provision 
for  continuity  of  government ;  it  had  no 
great  faith  in  the  future,  fearing  an  inter- 
regnum which  might  leave  room  for  Royalist 
plots  or  popular  attempts  at  reprisals.  So 
it  sought  to  retain  a  certain  power  by 
decreeing  that  two-thirds  of  the  new  Corps 
Legislatifs  created  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  Year  III. — the  two  governing  bodies, 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  55 

that  is  to  say,  the  Ancients  and  the  Five 
Hundred — should  be  chosen  out  of  the 
existing  Convention.  This  was  too  much 
for  Paris.  Its  thirty-eight  "Sections,"  or 
electoral  districts,  after  tumultuous  meet- 
ings, broke  out  into  open  revolt. 

The  section  Le  Peletier,  that  of  the  best 
quarter  in  Paris,  representing  the  best 
brains  and  intelligence,  the  greatest  respect- 
ability, the  most  money,  took  the  lead  in 
openly  resisting  the  Convention.  General 
Menou,  a  poor  creature,  was  ordered  to 
disarm  it,  but  preferred  to  treat  and  argue, 
agreeing  at  last  to  retire  if  the  Sectionnaires 
would  do  the  same.  This  was  tantamount 
to  victory  for  the  Sections,  and  the  Conven- 
tion, alarmed,  declared  itself  en  permanence. 
Barras  was  given  the  supreme  command  of 
the  troops,  after  the  merits  of  the  various 
soldiers  available,  Bonaparte  included,  had 
been  discussed.  He  had  been  at  the  play, 
at  the  Theatre  Feydeau,  when  the  disturb- 
ance began,  but  he  had  hurried  to  the 
National  Assembly,  where  he  had  the 
singular  fortune  of  hearing  a  long  debate 
upon  his  qualifications. 

Barras   was  appointed ;  but  he   was  no 


56 


LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


soldier,  certainly  no  hero,  and  he  had  no 
intention  of  risking  his  skin  in  any  appeal 
to  arms.  It  was  necessary  that  he  should 
associate    himself   with   some   professional 


M  J°36 


S  V^{c 


cv  e  c  vw  ( 


rw 


v-iTtfrtTS" 


-^ 


ukti*-  >a* 


REDUCED   FACSIMILE   OF   LETTER   FROM   JOSEPHINE   TO    BONAPARTE 


man.  The  story  goes  that  he  told  Carnot, 
"  I  have  him,  the  very  man  ;  a  little  Corsican 
whom  I  met  at  Toulon.  He  will  not  stand 
on  ceremony. "  So  Bonaparte  was  sum- 
moned to  Barras's  house  and  received  his 
instructions    to    make    head    against    the 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  57 

Sections.  He  accepted  the  job ;  he  was 
a  mercenary  still  ready  to  serve  either  side, 
and  only  the  day  before  he  had  remarked 
to  Junot,  "  These  Sectionnaires !  If  they 
would  only  let  me  lead  them  I  would  make 
short  work  of  the  Convention  !  "  Now  he 
did  his  best  for  the  employers  that  had 
secured  him.  The  palace  of  the  Tuileries 
was  put  in  a  state  of  defence ;  the  ap- 
proaches commanded  by  artillery.  He  held 
the  bridges  across  the  Seine,  and  was  thus 
safe  against  attack  from  the  south ;  his 
main  force  was  massed  in  the  gardens, 
the  representatives,  armed,  formed  a  last 
reserve,  and,  like  a  good  general,  he  took 
especial  care  to  keep  open  a  line  of  retreat 
upon  St  Cloud.  These  were  the  sound  dis- 
positions that  might  have  been  looked  for 
from  so  practical  a  soldier. 

The  forces  of  the  Sections — some  40,000 
men,  mostly  National  Guards — were  on  the 
move  early  next  day  (the  13th  Vendemiaire), 
thinking  perhaps  to  carry  the  Tuileries  by 
surprise.  They  found  Bonaparte's  artillery 
in  position,  and,  much  disquieted,  hesitated 
to  attack.  The  opponents  faced  each  other 
till  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Section- 


58  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

naires  advanced  on  two  lines,  one  across 
the  Pont  Royal,  the  other  by  the  Rue  St 
Honore.  Both  columns  broke  directly 
they  came  under  fire.  By  six  p.m.  the 
Convention  had  triumphed  completely ;  the 
Sections  were  overborne  and  disarmed. 
It  was  an  easy  victory  richly  rewarded. 
Bonaparte  was  at  once  reinstated  in  the 
artillery  ;  he  obtained  the  rank  of  a  General 
of  Division,  and  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Interior,  vacated 
by  Barras. 

He  had  at  last  broken  through  the 
trammels  and  emerged  into  daylight.  From 
henceforth  he  was  a  different  man.  He  had 
money  now,  ample  funds  ;  and  the  first  use 
he  made  of  them  was  to  gather  his  family 
together,  to  fetch  his  needy  relatives  from 
the  country  and  establish  them  in  Paris. 
His  circumstances  were  altogether  changed. 
He  was  no  longer  the  plaything  of  for- 
tune, hanging  on  the  favour  of  mushroom 
Ministers,  liable  at  any  moment  to  be  dis- 
graced and  dismissed,  but  an  officer  of  rank 
with  an  assured  position  and  acknowledged 
authority.  There  were  no  more  muddy 
boots  steaming  before  the  fire  to  offend  the 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  59 

delicate  nostrils  of  Madame  Junot's  mother 
with  their  unsavoury  odours.  When  Bona- 
parte visited  Madame  Permon  (to  whom, 
though  much  his  senior  in  years,  he  had 
made  a  proposal  of  marriage)  he  wore  a 
brand-new  uniform,  and  was  at  the  head 
of  a  glittering  staff.  He  became  reserved 
with  his  entourage,  cold,  distant,  very  much 
the  master.  He  was  a  person  of  conse- 
quence ;  he  had  achieved  something,  and 
was  on  the  threshold  of  greater  things. 

His  ambitious  spirit  was,  of  course,  con- 
centrated upon  securing  further  advance- 
ment. It  ought  to  be  well  within  his 
reach.  He  had  gained  prestige  in  his  small 
affray  with  the  Sections,  had  made  friends 
with  some  powerful  people  whom  he  was 
careful  to  further  propitiate.  The  post  he 
now  occupied,  as  the  military  head  of  the 
Home  District,  gave  him  importance  he 
was  not  slow  to  extend.  His  restless, 
indefatigable,  interfering  activity  prompted 
him  to  take  much  upon  himself  within  his 
own  province,  and  yet  usurp  all  the  functions 
of  others.  He  completed  the  pacification 
of  Paris  and  reorganised  the  National 
Guard;    he   gave   the    Directory    and   the 


60  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Corps  Legislatifs  special  body-guards,  and 
he  laboured  to  fill  every  office  under  his 
patronage  with  his  own  creatures.  Many 
of  these  he  found  useful,  and,  strange  to 
say,  still  grateful  when  he  made  his  bold 
stroke  for  sovereign  power  on  the  18th 
Brumaire.  No  such  project  may  as  yet 
have  taken  definite  shape  even  in  the  fertile 
brain  of  this  ever-scheming  adventurer  • 
but  it  is  certain  that  already  his  chiefs,  the 
u  five  Kings "  of  the  Directory,  began  to 
look  upon  him  with  suspicion.  He  could 
not  keep  quiet ;  his  restlessness,  the  obvious 
outcome  of  his  consuming  ambition,  could 
not  but  be  disquieting,  even  threatening. 
There  was  no  saying  what  he  might  not 
attempt  next,  to  what  lengths  he  would 
not  go.  The  upshot  of  it  was  a  growing 
anxiety  to  get  him  out  of  the  way,  to  send 
him  off  on  some  distant  expedition,  to 
remove  him  rather  than  take  him  boldly 
by  the  throat  and  crush  him.  This  was 
probably  a  contributing,  if  not  a  principal, 
cause  of  his  appointment  to  the  command 
of  the  army  in  Italy. 

Authorities    differ,  and   various   reasons 
have  been  assigned  for  his  selection.     One 


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HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  63 

has  gained  general  credence  that  he  owed 
the  appointment  to  his  timely  marriage 
with  Josephine  Beauharnais.  It  is  said  on 
the  authority  of  a  letter  under  Josephine's 
own  hand  that  the  command  in  Italy  was 
Barras's  wedding  present.  There  had  been 
close  relations  between  him  and  Josephine 
— the  very  closest  according  to  evil  tongues, 
Barras's  own  among  the  number.  No  doubt 
the  times  were  lax.  Madame  Beauharnais 
was  one  of  a  light,  loose  society  that  did 
not  practise  the  most  austere  virtue. 
Barras  was  an  undoubted  libertine ;  a  low 
blackguard,  too,  who  boasted  of  his  con- 
quests, and  has  recorded  in  his  memoirs 
that  Josephine  assured  him  that  he  was 
the  only  man  she  had  ever  truly  loved. 
Probably  Josephine  was  more  sinned 
against  than  sinning — a  weak,  yielding, 
rather  necessitous,  yet  extravagant  woman, 
the  easy  victim  of  a  designing  scoundrel 
like  Barras,  of  whose  salon  she  was  a 
principal  ornament.  But  that  there  was 
any  infamous  bargain  that  Bonaparte 
should  relieve  Barras  of  Josephine  at  the 
price  of  a  high  military  command  is  to 
suppose   him   capable    of   the    most  utter 


64  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

baseness.  It  is  also  contrary  to  a  fair 
conclusion  from  the  known  facts  of  the 
case. 

The  appointment  was  not  in  Barras's 
gift.  However  great  his  ascendency  in 
the  Directory,  he  did  not  alone  control 
the  patronage  ;  certainly  not  for  such  an 
important  post  as  the  command  in  Italy. 
For  that  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
five  Directors  must  be  obtained.  One  of 
these,  La  Reveillere  Lepeaux,  plainly  as- 
serts in  his  memoirs  that  the  story  of  the 
wedding  present  is  absurd,  that  Barras  had 
no  power  to  influence  the  Directory  in  its 
choice,  nor  did  he  attempt  it.  It  is  urged 
now,  and  with  much  plausibility,  that 
Bonaparte's  famous  scheme  of  campaign, 
which  the  Generals  on  the  spot  derided, 
really  gained  him  the  command.  When 
Scherer  refused  to  put  it  into  execution, 
his  recall  was  decided  upon,  but  not  the 
General  to  replace  him.  Several  names 
were  put  forward :  Letourneur  was  in 
favour  of  Bernadotte ;  Rewbell  of  Cham- 
pionnet ;  but  Bonaparte  was  recommended 
by  the  other  three,  and  especially  by  Carnot, 
who,  a  ^scientific   soldier  himself,  had  re- 


•    •  .    • 


THE   FIRST   INTERVIEW    BETWEEN   BONAPARTE   AND 
JOSEPHINE 


{From  a  Painting  by  Gerve.v) 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  67 

cognised  the  strong  military  aptitudes  of 
the  young  Corsican.  Carnot,  if  this  view 
be  correct,  certainly  deserves  his  title  of 
"  the  organiser  of  victory."  Napoleon,  who 
owed  him  so  much,  afterwards  credited 
him  with  being  "  the  most  sincere,  honest, 
and  indefatigable  spirit  that  figured  in  the 
Revolutionary  epoch,"  and  it  may  be  added 
that  Jomini,  another  great  authority,  has 
given  it  as  his  opinion  that  "had  Carnot 
been  more  practised  in  the  field,  had  he 
learnt  to  take  a  wider  view  of  strategical 
operations,  he  might  have  claimed  rank 
with  the  great  captains  of  the  world." 

We  may  believe,  then,  that  self-seeking 
of  the  most  shameful  kind  had  nothing  to 
do  with  Bonaparte's  courtship,  that  it  was  a 
romantic,  sentimental,  although  undoubtedly 
a  somewhat  sensual  affection.  He  was  in 
love  with  Josephine  from  the  first  moment 
he  met  her,  whether  it  was  in  his  own 
house,  according  to  the  fable  generally 
current  of  her  having  called  to  thank  him 
for  his  kindness  to  her  son,  or  in  one  of  the 
many  drawing-rooms  open  to  him  when  he 
became  General  commanding  the  Army  of 
the  Interior.     He  had  never  yet  been  much 


68  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  a  ladies'  man ;   although   welcomed  at 
Madame  Permon's  house,  and  at  home  in 
that  most  respectable  family  circle,  he  had 
known  no  ladies  of  the  frothy  fashionable 
type   that  made    up    the   gayest   Parisian 
society.     Josephine  Beauharnais  must  have 
come    like     a    revelation    to    the    newly- 
emancipated  young   man,    but  just  raised 
above   the   pressure   of   poverty   and   now 
first  admitted   to  the  intimacy  of  "smart 
people,"  as  they  would  be  called  nowadays. 
He  must  have   been   attracted  by  her  at 
once.       She   was   an   engaging   if    not   an 
exactly   beautiful   person ;    a   little   passe'e 
perhaps — for,  as  a   West   Indian,  she  had 
matured   early — but   she   had  the  skill  to 
repair  the  ravages  of  time.     Her  complexion 
was  brilliant   by   night,  her  chestnut  hair 
was  still  glossy  and  did  not  betray  the  dye 
too  openly,  her  rather  indifferent  teeth  were 
constantly  veiled  by  a  fixed,   sweet  smile. 
Her  chief  beauty  was  her  figure,  and  that 
was   still   unimpaired ;    it   was  exquisitely 
proportioned,    fell    naturally     into     pretty 
poses,  and  was  full  of  the  lissom  grace  of 
the  Creole.     She  knew   how   to   take   the 
attitudes  that  were  most  becoming  to  her, 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  69 

and,  above  all,  she  could  wield  with  great 
skill  that  most  potent  weapon  in  the 
feminine  armoury,  the  art  to  make  the 
most  of  herself.  She  was  always  delight- 
fully dressed ;  even  now,  when  almost  at 
the  end  of  her  resources,  her  wardrobe  was 
well  filled ;  by-and-by,  in  the  days  of  her 
splendour,  she  lavished  enormous  sums  on 
her  frocks. 

Bonaparte  pressed  his  suit  with  all  the 
ardour  of  an  enterprising  soldier.  Since 
the  change  in  his  fortunes  he  had  been 
eager  to  marry ;  he  had  proposed  to 
Madame  Pennon,  although  she  was  much 
his  senior  in  years — it  is  said  because  he 
coveted  her  income ;  he  had  paid  court  to 
Mdlle.  Desiree  Clery,  his  brother  Joseph's 
sister-in-law,  a  well- dowered,  beautiful 
girl,  who  afterwards  married  Bernadotte 
and  became  Queen  of  Sweden.  But  he 
cannot  have  been  much  in  earnest  till  he 
met  Josephine,  and  fell  at  her  feet.  His 
love  was  certainly  not  immediately  returned. 
The  letter  already  quoted  above  goes  on  to 
admit  that  her  feeling  towards  him  was 
lukewarm.  She  could  not  tell  exactly 
whether   she   liked    or   disliked   him.     u  I 


jo  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

admire  his  courage ;  the  extent  of  his 
information,  for  he  speaks  equally  well  on 
all  subjects ;  the  vivacity  of  his  wit,  the 
quick  intelligence  which  enables  him  to 
grasp  the  thoughts  of  others  almost  before 
they  are  expressed ;  but  I  am  terrified,  I 
admit,  at  the  empire  he  seems  to  exercise 
over  all  about  him.  His  keen  gaze  has 
an  inexplicable  something  which  impresses 
even  our  Directors ;  judge,  then,  if  he  is 
not  likely  to  intimidate  a  woman.  In 
short,  just  that  which  ought  to  please  me, 
the  strength  of  a  passion  with  which  he 
speaks  with  an  energy  that  admits  no 
doubt  of  his  sincerity,  is  precisely  that 
which  arrests  the  consent  that  often  hovers 
on  my  lips."  It  has  been  said  that  this 
very  sensible  and  matter-of-fact  letter  was 
either  a  pure  invention  or  written  for  his- 
torical purposes  many  years  afterwards, 
but  it  has  rather  a  genuine  ring. 

That  Bonaparte  in  the  end  carried 
Josephine  by  storm  is  very  probable.  His 
superb  self-confidence  imposed  upon  her. 
There  must  be  something  in  the  man  who 
promised  such  great  things.  "What  do  I 
want    with    protectors  ?     Do    my   envious 


HIS  FIRST  CHANCES  71 

comrades  think  I  cannot  get  on  without? 
By-and-by  they  will  be  glad  to  accept  my 
protection.  I  have  my  sword  by  my  side, 
and  will  go  far  with  its  aid."  She  admits 
that  this  assurance  seems  ridiculous,  and  yet 
she  thinks  sometimes  that  "  this  singular 
man  may  really  be  able  to  accomplish  a 
part  of  his  pretensions."  Her  own  self- 
interest  no  doubt  weighed  with  her  in 
her  decision.  Madame  Beauharnais  was  a 
needy  woman,  almost  at  her  last  ebb.  Her 
two  children,  Eugene  and  Hortense — one 
of  whom  became  the  chivalrous  Viceroy 
of  Italy,  faithful  among  the  faithless  few, 
the  other,  Queen  of  Holland,  that  charming 
woman  and  most  ill-used  wife — were  at 
this  moment  bound  to  trade,  the  first  to 
an  upholsterer,  the  second  to  a  couturiere. 
When  Bonaparte  appeared  upon  the  scene 
she  had  no  resources ;  she  received  only  a 
small  pittance  from  her  relatives  in  Mar- 
tinique ;  the  furniture  of  her  house  was 
pledged  ;  she  owed  money  on  every  side. 

So  she  accepted  this  impetuous  lover  who 
would  not  be  denied,  and  two  days  after 
the  marriage  he  started  for  the  south. 
There  were  two  words  engraved  within  the 


72  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

wedding  ring — "To  destiny!"  What  had 
destiny  in  store  for  the  strangely- assorted 
pair?  Did  Josephine  dream  that  in  the 
crookedness  of  life  this  lukewarm  feeling 
which  she  brought  to  the  matrimonial  part- 
nership would  recoil  on  herself;  that  her 
vagaries,  her  heedlessness,  the  slights  she 
put  upon  her  doting  husband,  would  some 
day  engender  like  treatment ;  that  Napoleon 
would  pay  her  in  her  own  coin,  with  cold- 
ness, infidelity,  and,  finally,  with  divorce? 
"The  whirligig  of  Time  brings  in  his  re- 
venges," and  there  was  a  sad  reckoning 
in  store  for  poor,  erring,  silly,  but  yet  not 
unlovable  Josephine. 


CHAPTER  III 

HIS  DEBUT  AS  A  GENERAL— 1796-1797 

HERE  was  little  in  the 
aspect  of  Bonaparte 
when  on  the  eve  of 
his  first  campaign 
to  indicate  the  great 
commander.  He  was 
still  a  mere  lad,  a 
short  in  stature,  of 
'  so  thin,  indeed,  as 
"  The  thinnest  and 
queerest  being  I  ever  saw,"  says  a  con- 
temporary. But  viewed  and  known  more 
closely,  there  were  signs  that  he  was  no 
ordinary  man.  His  keen,  clear  eyes  pierced 
like   a   sword   and    read    people's    inmost 

73 


frail,  fragile  youth 
exceeding  slimness, 
to    inspire     pity/' 


74  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

thoughts.  He  imposed  his  strong  person- 
ality on  everyone  at  once  ;  his  imperious 
manner,  abrupt  gestures,  authoritative 
voice,  dominated  them  ;  his  moral  grip  was 
firm,  tenacious,  unrelaxing.  He  was  very 
much  the  master ;  absolute,  domineering, 
dictatorial,  determined  to  be  immediately 
and  implicitly  obeyed. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  quickly,  yet 
how  quietly,  he  assumed  his  position  as 
chief.  There  were  many  in  the  army  who 
resented  his  appointment ;  older  soldiers, 
men  who  had  seen  more,  done  more.  He 
was  ridiculed  as  a  creature  of  Barras ;  a 
street  General,  one  who  had  never  been  in 
the  field,  a  mere  mathematician  who  made 
up  by  boasting  for  his  want  of  knowledge 
and  experience.  On  his  way  south  he  dined 
at  the  table  of  General  Gassencli,  and  among 
the  guests  was  a  Colonel  of  Engineers,  who 
wrote  to  Paris  asking  "Who  was  this  little 
braggart  who  talked  of  sweeping  away 
the  enemy  in  less  than  six  weeks  ? "  The 
question  was  passed  on  to  Carnot,  who 
replied  that  the  little  man  in  question  was 
quite  likely  to  keep  his  word.  The  same 
carping,  contemptuous  spirit  animated  the 


GENERAL   BONAPARTE 
(By  Appiani) 


HIS  DtiBUT  AS  A  GENERAL     ^ 

officers   he   was  to  command.      Augereau, 
till  now  much  his  senior,  went  before  him 
blustering   and  insubordinate,  to  leave  his 
presence  completely  cowed.     He  confessed 
the  little  General  terrified  him.      Massena 
admitted   that   he   was   awed  by  the  first 
glance.     "That  devil  of  a  man  fascinates 
me  in  a  way  I  cannot  account  for,"  said 
General   Vandamme,    a   coarse   old    Revo- 
lutionary    General;     "I     tremble     before 
him  like  a  child."     Lavalette,  a  relative  of 
Josephine's,  records  that  Bonaparte's  regard 
was  so  firm  and  so  fixed  that  "  I  felt  myself 
turning  pale  when  he  spoke  to  me."     No 
doubt  the  young  man  called  thus  early  to 
high  functions  realised  that  he  must  assume 
this  austere  and  terrible  air  if  he  was  to 
exercise  command  over  others.     There  was 
an  end  now  of  all  familiarity  even  with  old 
friends.     Admiral  Decres  called  on  him  as 
he  passed  through  Toulon,  expecting  to  find 
him  the  same  old  comrade,  and  was  put  at 
once  in  his  place.     "I  was  about  to  rush 
forward,  when  the  attitude,  the  look,  the 
tone   of    the    voice    arrested    me.  ...     I 
never   tried  again  to  overstep  the  line  he 
had  drawn  between  us." 


7%  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

The  little  parvenu  General,  as  some  still 
called  him,  soon  showed  his  quality.  The 
troops  he  was  sent  to  command  were  in 
rags,  half-starved ;  he  appeals  at  once  to 
their  appetites,  securing  in  advance  their 
most  strenuous  efforts  in  a  campaign  that 
promised  them  everything.  "  Rich  pro- 
vinces and  great  cities  will  be  in  your  power  ; 
you  will  find  there  (in  Italy)  honour,  glory, 
and  wealth."  He  preached,  in  fact,  the 
doctrines  of  pillage,  brigandage,  and  spolia- 
tion, which,  by  his  surprising  victories,  he 
was  so  soon  able  to  put  into  effect.  The 
old  fine  theories  of  the  French  Revolution 
were  now  cast  completely  to  the  winds. 
This  new  leader  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Re- 
public no  longer  made  pretence  of  extend- 
ing the  immortal  principles  of  liberty  and 
fraternity  ;  Italy  was  not  held  up  to  them  as 
a  country  to  be  freed,  but  as  a  prey  to  be 
seized  and  plundered. 

Bonaparte  carried  with  him  detailed  in- 
structions from  the  Directory  as  to  his  plan 
of  campaign.  It  was  in  a  measure  his  own 
plan  ;  but  it  stopped  short  of  what,  with  his 
consummate  military  judgment,  he  knew 
was    necessary   for   perfect   success.     The 


HIS  DtiBUT  AS  A  GENERAL     79 

Directory  desired  him  to  cross  the  Apen- 
nines, separate  the  two  armies  opposed  to 
him,  the  Piedmontese  and  the  Austrian, 
force  the  first  back  on  Turin,  and  then,  by 
an  advance  upon  Milan,  drive  the  second 
out  of  Lombardy.  As  to  the  early  oper- 
ations, Bonaparte  was  in  accord  with 
his  masters,  but  he  saw  clearly  that  the 
last  part  of  the  scheme  was  strategically 
wrong.  It  would  be  unsafe  to  leave  the 
Piedmontese  in  his  rear,  unless  they  had 
been  first  utterly  crushed.  Moreover  Genoa 
was  all  but  openly  hostile,  and  in  the  move 
on  Lombardy  woujd  have  threatened  his 
right  flank.  We  shall  soon  see  that  the 
young  General  was  not  to  be  tied  by  his 
orders,  least  of  all  by  those  he  knew  to  be 
faulty  and  involving  great  risk. 

The  allied  forces  outnumbered  those  of  the 
French.  Colli,  the  Piedmontese  General, 
commanded  20,000  men ;  Beaulieu,  the 
Austrian,  had  nearly  40,000.  But  the 
superiority  in  numbers  was  counterbalanced 
by  the  independent  role  each  was  called 
upon  to  fulfil.  Each  had  to  cover  its 
own  territory  with  bases  widely  apart  and 
divergent  lines  of  communication,  for  Colli 


8o  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

on  Turin,  and  for  Beaulieu  on  Milan  and 
the  Tyrol.  The  very  nature  of  these  in- 
evitable positions  greatly  militated  against 
united  action.  The  French  army,  on  the 
other  hand,  although  smaller,  was  more 
compactly  held.  It  numbered  no  more  than 
36,000  or  38,000  men,  according  to  the 
best  accounts.  But  although  in  poor  case 
as  regards  supplies  and  munitions  of  war, 
they  were  hardy,  well- seasoned  troops,  who 
had  been  campaigning  for  three  years ; 
full  of  enthusiasm,  eager  to  descend  from 
the  bleak  mountains  into  the  fertile  plains 
of  Italy ;  led  by  many  excellent  officers, 
some  good  Generals  who  became  more 
famous  under  Napoleon,  and  many  others 
still  in  junior  ranks,  such  as  Junot, 
Murat,  Marmont,  Lannes,  Victor,  Suchet, 
and  Berthier  —  men  whose  names  are 
indissolubly  associated  with  their  chiefs 
glory. 

Bonaparte's  great  aim  was  to  strike  in 
between  the  allied  armies,  very  much  as  he 
did  twenty  years  later  in  the  campaign  of 
Waterloo,  the  positions  of  Wellington  and 
Bliicher  having  in  some  respect  repeated 
those  of  Colli  and  Beaulieu  in  1716.     This 


HIS  DEBUT  AS  A  GENERAL     81 

would  give  him  the  advantage  of  "  interior 
iines,"  a  term  in  military  science  indicating 
a  central  position  from  which  a  General  can 
move  by  the  radius,  by  the  shortest  line,  in 
fact,  against  enemies  who  can  only  act  and 
communicate  by  the  circumference. 

At  the  opening  of  the  campaign  the 
Allies  held  their  principal  strength  at  the 
extremities  of  this  long  line.  On  their 
right,  Colli  was  chiefly  about  Ceva,  opposite 
the  Pass  of  Ormea ;  on  their  left,  Beaulieu 
was  at  Voltaggio,  Ovada,  and  Sassello,  and 
reaching  through  the  Bochetta  Pass  towards 
Genoa  and  the  sea-coast.  The  Austrian 
centre  was  but  weakly  held,  mostly  about 
Dego,  where  dArgenteau  was  in  touch 
with  the  Piedmontese  under  Provera  at 
Millesimo. 

The  French,  when  Bonaparte  assumed 
command,  occupied  the  whole  length  of 
the  Eastern  Riviera  from  Voltri,  near 
Genoa,  back  to  the  passes  above  Nice,  as 
follows  : — 

1.  Laharpe,  on  the  left,  8000  men,  at 
Savona  with  the  brigade  of  Cervoni  pushed 
forward  to  Voltri. 

2.  The  centre  was  made  up  of  Massena, 


82  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

8000,  at  Cadibona,  and  Augereau,  8000,  at 
San  Giacomo. 

3.  To  the  right,  Serrurier,  7000,  held  the 
Pass  of  Ormea,  and  beyond  him  two  divi- 
sions, Macquart's  and  Gamier 's,  watched 
the  Col  di  Tenda. 

It  was  Bonaparte's  intention  to  force  the 
Austrian  centre,  drawing  together  and  con- 
centrating the  three  divisions — Laharpe's, 
Massena's,  and  Augereau's — for  the  pur- 
pose, while  the  Passes  of  Ormea  and  the 
Col  di  Tenda  were  securely  held  by  his 
other  divisions  on  the  left. 

It  wTill  be  interesting  to  describe  this, 
Bonaparte's  first  independent  campaign, 
in  some  detail.  It  so  well  illustrates  his 
methods  and  his  native  genius  for  war,  that 
it  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  much  that  was 
to  follow. 

April  10.  Beaulieu,  in  obedience  to 
orders  from  the  Aulic  Council  in  Vienna, 
took  the  offensive,  advancing  in  person 
against  Cervoni,  who  stood  firm  at  Voltri 
till  the  night  of  the  11th,  then  fell  back  on 
Laharpe.  At  the  same  time  the  Austrian 
General,  dArgenteau,  was  to  march  by 
Montenotte  on  Savona.     The  effect  of  these 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     8 


j 


moves,  as  Beaulieu  hoped,  would  be  to 
envelop  and  cut  off  Laharpe. 

April  11.  D'Argenteau's  advance  was 
checked  by  the  gallant  stand  made  by  a 
small  force  under  Colonel  Rampon.  He 
fought  all  day,  but  made  no  impression, 
and  paused  at  sundown,  meaning  to  renew 
the  attack  on  the  morrow ;  but  that  night 
his  fate  was  sealed.  Now,  Bonaparte's 
masterly  strategy,  well  seconded  by  the 
activity  and  rapid  marching  of  his  troops, 
concentrated  three  divisions,  24,000,  on 
d'Argenteau's  force  of  10,000,  and  all  but 
destroyed  it. 

It  was  a  fine  example  of  the  great 
military  maxim  to  bring  superior  masses 
upon  an  enemy's  fractions.  On  the  night 
of  the  11  th,  Laharpe  took  post  behind 
the  redoubt  above  mentioned ;  Massena 
marched  by  Cairo  on  Sassello,  where  he 
turned  to  take  d'Argenteau  in  flank  and 
rear;  Augereau  also  moved  on  Cairo  to 
interpose  between  the  Piedmontese,  then 
reinforce  Massena. 

April  12.  D'Argenteau  was  attacked  in 
force  and  dispersed. 

April  13.    Beaulieu    learned    what    had 


84  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

happened,  and  tried  to  concentrate  his 
remaining  forces  on  Dego.  On  this  day 
Augereau  and  Massena,  combined,  turned 
on  the  Piedmontese,  defeated  them  at 
Millesimo,  and  drove  them  back  on  Ceva, 
Provera's  division  being  made  prisoners. 

April  14.  Bonaparte  attacked  Beaulieu 
and  beat  him  at  Dego,  obliging  him  to 
retire  on  Acqui,  thus  hopelessly  widening 
the  distance  between  the  Allies,  who  were 
now  completely  separated.  In  four  days' 
fighting  he  had  secured  the  great  object 
of  the  campaign  ;  his  two  opponents  were 
falling  back  in  opposite  directions,  and  he 
was  in  between,  master  of  both  roads,  able 
and  ready  to  attack  by  either  line. 

The  Directory's  orders  had  been,  if  he 
reached  this  point,  to  leave  the  Pied- 
montese, and  turn  all  his  attention  upon 
the  Austrians.  The  conclusive  military 
arguments  against  this  step  have  already 
been  given,  and  Bonaparte,  counting  on  the 
pardon  that  would  surely  be  accorded  to 
fresh  triumphs,  chose  the  right  course,  which 
was  first  to  overwhelm  the  Piedmontese. 
Laharpe  was  posted  at  San  Benedetto 
to    repel   any  relieving   movement   by  the 


BONAPARTE    AT    THE    BRIDGE    OF    ARCOLA 
{From  a  Picture  by  Baron  Gros  in  the  Louvre) 


HIS  DfiBUT  AS  A  GENERAL     S7 

Austrians.  Bonaparte  then  drew  Serrurier 
to  him  from  Garessio,  and  pressed  the 
Piedmontese  home.  Their  army,  evacu- 
ating the  entrenched  camp  of  Ceva,  fell 
back  on  Mondovi.  where,  on  the  21st  April, 
Bonaparte  won  another  battle.  On  the 
23rd  Colli  asked  for  an  armistice,  which  was 
sternly  refused.  On  the  25th,  Bonaparte, 
advancing  unopposed,  was  at  Cherasco, 
within  thirty  miles  of  Turin. 

This  whirlwind  of  victory  produced  con- 
sternation in  the  city,  and  pressure  was  put 
upon  the  King  to  make  peace.  Not  that 
his  case  was  at  all  desperate.  Turin  could 
have  stood  a  siege ;  the  Piedmontese  army 
was  still  strong — it  had  a  numerous  artillery 
and  first-rate  cavalry.  But  terror  carried 
the  day,  and  the  country  surrendered  at 
discretion,  gave  up  its  fortresses  and  its 
roads,  reduced  its  army,  and  discharged 
the  militia.  Bonaparte  profited  more  than 
by  actual  conquest,  which  might  have  been 
arduous  and  prolonged.  Yet  he  had  been 
expressly  forbidden  to  treat  with  sovereign 
powers,  and  he  had  to  excuse  himself  to 
the  Directory.  He  did  so  by  urging  that, 
although  his  colleagues,  his  fellow  Generals, 


88  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  the  Civil  Commissioners  approved  of  the 
suspension  of  arms,  the  agreement  could  be 
cancelled  by  the  Government  if  they  chose. 
At  the  same  time,  he  quietly  adds  that  he 
has  gone  in  pursuit  of  Beaulieu,  and  hopes 
soon  to  enter  the  Tyrol  and  lend  a  hand  to 
the  armies  on  the  Bhine. 

Let  us  follow  his  conquering  course, 
leaving  aside  for  the  moment  the  grave 
considerations  raised  by  his  conduct  in  this 
first  revelation  of  himself:  his  defiance  of 
the  Directory,  his  astute  bids  for  popularity 
in  France  and  with  the  army,  his  exactions 
and  oppressions"  of  the  subject  peoples  on 
whom  he  laid  his  heavy  hand.  The  cam- 
paign so  happily  ended  had  lasted  but 
eighteen  days — from  the  10th  to  the  28th 
April.  Within  a  week  he  was  again  in  the 
field,  marching  on  Piacenza,  where  he 
crossed  the  Po.  Beaulieu  looked  for  him 
higher  up,  at  Valenza,  mainly  because 
permission  to  cross  there  was  expressly 
demanded  in  the  treaty  with  Piedmont. 
But  at  Piacenza  he  turned  the  lines  of  the 
Ticino  and  the  Po,  thus  compromising 
Beaulieu's  position  at  Milan,  who  now  fell 
back  behind   the  Adda.     Here  Bonaparte 


HIS  Dl^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     89 

came  upon  the  enemy  at  Lodi,  where  he 
forced  a  passage  in  a  brilliant  feat  of 
arms,  a  victory  cheaply  earned,  which 
yet  completely  demoralised  the  Austrians. 
Beaulieu  having  abandoned  Milan  and 
withdrawn  behind  the  Mincio,  Bonaparte 
entered  the  capital,  and  Lombardy  became 
the  prize  of  another  short  week's  successful 
campaigning. 

There  could  be  no  question  of  the  com- 
manding talents  that  with  magical  rapidity 
scored  such  triumphs  as  these.  Bonaparte 
established  his  right  to  be  deemed  a  great 
soldier  from  this,  the  outset  of  his  career. 
He  possessed,  indeed,  the  highest  attributes 
of  leadership,  and  in  the  most  pronounced 
degree  :  a  profound  insight  into  the  true 
and  really  unchanging  principles  of  warfare, 
sound  strategical  judgment  in  choosing  his 
plan  of  campaign,  extraordinary  force  and 
promptitude  in  striking  decisive  blows.  His 
personal  ascendency  was  marvellous ;  no 
General  has  excelled  him  in  appealing  to 
the  imagination  of  his  troops,  in  winning 
their  unhesitating  devotion.  No  one  knew 
better,  and  yet  almost  instinctively,  how  to 
evoke  their  heroism,  how  to  rouse  them  to 


9o  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  finest  efforts.  He  could  play  upon 
their  best  feelings  ;  more,  he  showed  himself 
freely,  and  appeared  to  take  keen  personal 
interest  in  every  unit,  every  individual — 
their  doings,  their  achievements ;  he  knew 
every  regiment  and  its  exploits  ;  recognised 
and  rewarded  merit  on  the  spot.  Mixing 
with  the  troops  continually,  sharing  their 
toils,  their  bivouacs,  their  dangers,  he  be- 
came one  with  them,  comrade  as  well  as 
leader,  the  beloved  ''Petit  Caporal,"  who 
asked  none  to  go  where  he  would  not  lead 
the  wTay — a  way  that  ended  always  in 
victory.  He  soon  showed  that  he  could 
keep  his  promises.  His  proclamations  were 
not  empty  bombast.  Italy  was  to  be  their 
reward,  and  it  soon  was.  He  showed  them 
the  rich  plains,  the  great  cities  that  studded 
them,  offering  them  as  prizes,  which  with 
astonishing  completeness  he  quickly  put 
at  their  disposal.  The  surest  road  to  the 
hearts  of  the  soldiery  of  any  time  or 
country  is  along  a  series  of  unbroken 
military  successes.  The  victorious  General 
can  always  count  upon  the  boundless 
enthusiasm  of  his  followers.  But  Bona- 
parte held  the   allegiance  of  his  by  more 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     91 

than  the  high-sounding  but  often  empty 
bribe  of  military  glory.  His  gifts  were 
more  substantial,  more  material.  What 
his  men  captured  he  allowed  them  (at  least 
for  a  time)  to  enjoy.  That  he  had  evoked 
and  fostered  a  spirit  of  greed,  a  lust  for 
rapine  and  bloodshed  that  could  only  be 
satisfied  by  shameful  excesses,  is  the  chief 
blot  upon  his  fame  in  this  first  invasion  of 
Italy  ;  and  he  was  himself,  although  for  the 
State  and  not  for  personal  aggrandisement, 
the  biggest  brigand  of  them  all. 

Very  early  in  the  campaign  he  saw  his 
mistake,  and,  although  the  blame  was  his, 
strove  with  great  severity  to  correct  it. 
The  scenes  of  pillage  and  spoliation,  he 
wrote  to  the  Directory,  made  him  "  blush 
to  be  a  man."  "I  will  restore  order,  or  I 
must  cease  to  command  these  thieves."  So 
officers  were  broken,  soldiers  shot,  but  the 
pillage  did  not  cease ;  only  it  was  carried 
on  now  by  the  General-in-Chief,  systema- 
tised  and  regulated,  and  on  a  very  much 
wider  scale.  Tremendous  war-taxes  and 
indemnities  were  levied  on  the  hapless 
Italian  people.  Sardinia  gave  up  her  for- 
tresses,   and   was   plundered   by   the   War 


92  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Commissaries  of  supplies  and  munitions  of 
war.  From  others  he  took  hard  cash. 
From  Genoa  he  took  fifteen  millions  of 
francs ;  from  Austrian  Lombardy  twenty 
millions,  with  large  subsidies  in  horses, 
clothing  and  supplies ;  from  Modena  ten 
millions  ;  from  Parma  several  more ;  from 
Rome  later  on  twenty-one  millions,  and  so 
on.  They  might  rise  in  revolt  against 
these  iniquitous  exactions — so  much  the 
worse  for  them.  The  inhabitants  of 
Lombardy,  relieved  from  foreign  domina- 
tion, welcomed  the  French  as  deliverers, 
and,  being  soon  undeceived,  were  rash 
enough  to  fly  to  arms  in  protest.  At 
Pavia  an  insurrection  was  suppressed 
under  circumstances  of  the  utmost  cruelty. 
Everyone  taken  with  arms  in  his  hands 
was  shot ;  every  house  in  which  weapons 
were  found  was  burned.  Four  hundred 
hostages  chosen  from  among  the  first 
families  of  Lombardy  were  exiled  to 
France.  Such  high-handed  proceedings 
were  sufficient  to  change,  within  one  short 
week,  all  friendly  sentiments  into  deep- 
seated,  undying  hate. 

The  French  "loot"  in   Italy   comprised 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     93 

all  sorts  of  valuables,  jewellery,  gold  and 
silver  plate,  church  ornaments,  priceless 
works  of  art,  pictures  and  statuary,  the 
inherited  glory  of  the  cradle  of  the  Arts. 
This  last,  a  shameful  abuse  of  the  right 
of  conquest  never  hitherto  practised  by 
civilised  nations,  the  French  had  already 
tried  in  Holland  and  Belgium  ;  but  Bona- 
parte now  carried  it  to  its  furthest  limits. 
As  early  as  May  1,  three  weeks  after  the 
opening  of  the  campaign,  he  instructed  the 
French  Minister  at  Genoa  to  provide  him 
with  detailed  lists  of  the  chief  works  of  art 
to  be  found  in  the  great  Italian  cities.  A 
few  days  later  he  writes  to  Carnot :  "  I 
send  you  twenty  pictures  by  the  first 
masters — Correggio  and  Michael  Angelo." 
At  the  same  time  he  asks  the  Directory  to 
let  him  have  three  or  four  well-known 
artists  who  could  be  usefully  employed  in 
choosing  the  most  suitable  pictures  and 
objects  of  vertu  to  be  forwarded  to  Paris. 
On  May  19  it  is  ordered  that  an  agent 
shall  be  attached  to  the  French  Army  in 
Italy  "  to  extract  and  send  home  the 
objects  of  art  and  science  found  in  the 
conquered  towns  or  recorded  by  the  powers 


94  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

in  virtue  of  treaties  or  suspensions  of  arms." 
Again,  in  June,  he  reports  that  Monge, 
Berthollet  and  Thouin  are  at  Pavia,  where 
"they  are  busy  enriching  our  Jardin  des 
Plantes  and  Cabinets  of  Natural  History." 
"I  imagine  they  will  not  forget  a  com- 
plete collection  of  serpents,  which  seemed 
to  me  worthy  of  making  the  voyage."  He 
promises  them  an  abundant  harvest  in 
Bologna.  On  July  2  he  writes  :  "  Eighty 
waggons  left  yesterday  laden  with  hemp 
and  silk,"  the  former  with  much  timber 
was  for  use  in  the  shipbuilding  yards  of 
the  Republic;  "I  am  collecting  all  the 
jewels  and  silver  plate  at  Tortona.  .  .  . 
We  are  much  embarrassed  as  to  what  to 
select  at  Eome.  The  statues  can  only  be 
transported  by  sea,  and  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  trust  them  on  board  ship." 
For  Nelson  was  in  command  of  the  Medi- 
terranean. 

The  man  who  could  fill  the  empty  coffers 
of  France  with  such  timely  contributions 
was  in  a  position  to  laugh  at  the  Directory 
when  they  dared  to  take  him  to  task.  At 
first  they  resented  his  masterfulness,  his 
insolence  in  defying  their  orders,  and,  more 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     95 

than  ever  jealous  of  him,  were  resolved 
to  clip  his  wings  by  dividing  the  Italian 
command.  Four  days  after  Lodi  (May  14) 
he  received  this  news  in  a  dispatch,  which 
gave  one  half,  to  be  called  the  Army  of 
Lombardy,  to  Kellermann,  and  ordered 
Bonaparte,  with  the.  other,  to  march  by 
the  coast  on  Leghorn,  Rome,  and  Tuscany. 
The  young  General  would  brook  no  equal ; 
his  answer,  in  firm  but  respectful  language, 
was  to  place  his  resignation  in  the  hands  of 
his  chiefs.  Unity  of  command  was  indis- 
pensable to  success  in  war.  "A  single 
general  is  not  only  necessary,  it  is  essential 
...  I  should  have  done  nothing  of  value 
if  I  had  been  obliged  to  reconcile  my  plans 
with  those  of  another  .  .  .  my  action  has 
been  as  quick  as  my  thought."  But  he 
must  be  untrammelled  ;  if  Government 
Commissioners  have  the  right  to  be  con- 
sulted, if  they  can  change  his  movements 
and  give  or  take  troops  from  him,  "  expect 
no  more  of  any  value."  He  tells  the 
Directory  they  must  have  a  General  who 
possesses  their  entire  confidence.  "  If  it  is 
not  I,  I  am  sorry  for  it,  but  I  shall  redouble 
my  zeal  in  the   post   you  confide    to   me." 


96  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

"  Kellermann,"  he  writes  the  same  day  to 
Carnot,  "will  command  the  army  as  well 
as  I  can  .  .  .  but  I  think  that  to  join  him 
and  me  in  Italy  would  be  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing. I  cannot  willingly  serve  with  a 
man  who  believes  himself  the  first  General 
in  Europe  ;  besides,  I  consider  that  one  bad 
General  is  better  than  two  good  ones." 

As  these  protests  were  accompanied  with 
the  news  of  the  occupation  of  Lombardy, 
and  the  promises,  soon  fulfilled,  of  large 
consignments  in  specie  and  valuable  goods, 
the  Directory  thought  twice  before  they 
dispossessed  so  useful,  albeit  so  alarmingly 
insubordinate,  a  lieutenant.  A  fortnight 
later  they  had  reconsidered  their  proposal ; 
had  withdrawn  their  orders  to  attack 
Rome  and  Naples ;  had  left  Bonaparte 
practically  a  free  hand,  He  had  probably 
counted  upon  this  ;  he  knew  that  he  was 
too  strong  to  be  trifled  with,  that  he 
wielded  almost  independent  authority ; 
that  the  Government,  or  its  representatives, 
could  not  control  his  policy.  As  he  told 
Miot  de  Melito,  "I  do  what  I  please."  As 
regards  immediate  advantage,  the  wisdom 
of    giving    him    carte    blanche    was    soon 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     97 

apparent.  He  was  not  to  be  diverted  from 
the  true  line.  It  was  of  the  first  importance 
to  overthrow  the  power  of  Austria  in  Italy. 
After  that  the  smaller  States  might  be 
easily  dealt  with. 

The  operations  that  followed  were  of  the 
same  prompt  and  decisive  character,  based 
upon  the  same  masterly  and  unerring  com- 
prehension of  the  true  elements  of  success 
in  war.  Nor  did  Bonaparte  hesitate  to  set 
international  law  at  defiance,  and,  when  it 
suited  his  plans,  to  violate  the  neutrality  of 
Venice.  Beaulieu  now  held  the  line  of  the 
Mincio  and  the  fortress  of  Mantua,  the  last 
Austrian  stronghold  in  Italy.  Bonaparte 
threw  his  left  forward  and  occupied  Brescia, 
on  Venetian  territory,  aiming,  as  it  seemed, 
at  Beaulieu's  retreat  into  the  Tyrol.  That 
General  then  retaliated  by  seizing  Peschiera, 
also  on  Venetian  territory,  which  would 
strengthen  his  line  of  defence  ;  his  left 
being  at  Mantua,  his  right  now  at  Peschiera, 
his  centre  at  Borghetto.  Bonaparte,  making 
a  feint  against  the  Austrian  right,  drew 
hither  the  bulk  of  Beaulieu's  army,  and, 
by  an  astonishing  night  march,  put  in 
practice  one  of  his  favourite  devices — that 


98  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  falling  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  the 
weakened  centre  —  broke  through,  and 
fairly  drove  Beaulieu  out  of  Italy.  After 
that  the  French  were  able  to  seize  the 
line  of  the  Adige,  a  still  further  violation 
of  Venetian  neutrality ;  but  it  was  the 
strongest  line  of  defence  to  the  northward, 
and  when  in  possession  of  it,  Bonaparte 
was  safe  to  turn  back  and  dispose  of  the 
rest  of  Italy. 

Naples  now  made  submission ;  the  Pope 
essayed  to  treat,  and  was  permitted  to  buy 
peace,  although  the  Directory  had  forbidden 
Bonaparte  to  make  any  concessions  to 
either  Power.  Only  one  sovereign  State 
remained  independent  of  France,  and  that 
was  Tuscany,  whose  Grand  Duke  was  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  Directory.  But 
Tuscany  was  weak,  and  it  owned  Leghorn, 
a  prosperous  port  full  of  British  shipping, 
all  laden  with  rich  freights,  as  it  was  sup- 
posed. A  French  division  now  marched 
through  Pistoja,  ostensibly  moving  on 
Rome  ;  it  took  the  route  by  Sienna  instead 
of  Florence,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the 
Grand  Duke ;  but  turned  suddenly  on  Leg- 
horn and  seized  it     The  booty  was   dis- 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     99 

appointing :  the  British  ships,  warned  in 
time,  had  gone  to  sea.  But  Tuscany  was 
at  the  mercy  of  France,  and  now,  the  citadel 
of  Milan  having  fallen,  Italy  was  entirely 
at  the  mercy  of  Bonaparte. 

Austria  was  by  no  means  content  to 
surrender  the  Italian  possessions,  and  gave 
Bonaparte  constant  occupation  in  meeting 
her  repeated  and  well-sustained  efforts  to 
succour  Mantua,  which  held  out,  indeed, 
until  February  1797.  The  first  attempt  was 
made  by  General  Wurmser,  an  old  General 
distinguished  on  the  Rhine,  who  burst 
through  the  Tyrol  with  an  army  of  70,000 
men.  He  advanced  on  three  lines  widely 
apart,  and  thus  offered  himself  to  be  beaten 
in  detail  by  the  superior  strategy  of  his 
enterprising  foe.  Bonaparte's  situation 
might  easily  have  become  desperate ;  but 
he  broke  up  instantly  from  before  Mantua, 
sacrificing  his  siege  train,  and  carried  his 
whole  army  to  attack  the  first  Austrian 
column,  that  under  Quasdanowich,  which 
was  striking  at  his  most  vital  point — his 
communications  with  Milan.  He  caught 
up  Quasdanowich,  and  overwhelmed  him 
at  Lonato  before  the  other  two  Austrian 


ioo         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

corps    could     reach     and     reinforce    him. 
Wurmser,    who   was   bringing   them   up  a 
little  tardily,   was   next   encountered   and 
beaten  at  Castiglione :  but  for  the  fatigue 
of  the  French   troops  the  Austrian  army 
would  have   been   annihilated.      Wurmser 
escaped   into  the  Tyrol,  and  presently  re- 
entering Italy  by  the  valley  of  the  Brenta, 
was  again  defeated  at  Bassano,  after  which, 
with  his  shattered  forces,  he  retreated  into 
Mantua.     The  relief  of  this  stronghold  was 
the  sole  advantage  obtained  by  Austria  in 
this  campaign.     By  October  1796  another 
Austrian  army,  50,000  strong,  largely  com- 
posed of  recruits,  was  assembled,  and  Italy 
was  again  invaded.     Alvinzi,  with  40,000, 
was  on  the  Piave  about  Belluno ;  Davido- 
wich,  with   18,000,  advanced  through  the 
Tyrol;   and  the   two  were  to  unite  before 
Verona.      Bonaparte  was  now  superior  in 
numbers  ;  he  had  received  reinforcements ; 
and  the  creation  of  the  Italian  legions  had 
released  the  French  garrisons  in  the  con- 
quered fortresses.     Yet  in   this   campaign 
the   tide   of  fortune    almost    turned.      At 
the  first  onset  he   met  and   defeated  Al- 
vinzi between  Vicenza  and  Bassano,  but 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     101 

Davidowich  had  pressed  back  the  French 
force  from  Trent,  and,  threatening  to  take 
the  line  of  the  Adige  in  reverse,  would 
have  cut  off  Bonaparte's  retreat.  He 
abandoned,  therefore,  the  advantage  gained 
over  Alvinzi,  and  hastily  retired  to  save 
his  communications.  After  that  he  con- 
centrated at  Verona,  where  Alvinzi  had 
followed,  and  was  in  an  entrenched  position 
upon  the  heights  of  Caldiero.  Bonaparte 
attacked  them,  and  was  repulsed.  Now, 
for  the  first  time  in  Italy,  he  was  in  grave 
peril.  His  rear  was  not  safe,  the  garrison 
of  Mantua  harassed  him  with  fierce  sorties, 
Alvinzi  in  front  threatened  to  enclose  and 
besiege  him  in  Verona. 

He  met  his  danger  with  a  bold  stroke. 
Evacuating  Verona  during  the  night,  he 
carried  his  main  army  to  Konco,  far  down 
the  Adige,  where  he  took  Alvinzi  in  the 
rear  and  nullified  the  entrenchments  of 
Caldiero.  Then  followed  the  three  days' 
fighting  at  the  bridge  of  Areola,  over  the 
Alpone,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Adige. 
Here  the  enemy  had  thrown  up  a  bridge- 
head, and  held  it  so  tenaciously  that  Al- 
vinzi was  enabled  to  retreat  from  Caldiero. 


i6i       Life  of  napoleon 

Next  day  Bonaparte,  seeming  to  retreat, 
drew  the  Austrians  down  on  him,  and 
engaged  them  to  their  disadvantage.  The 
third  day  he  attacked  and  beat  them  at 
Areola,  but  in  an  action  long  and  hotly 
contested.  At  last  Alvinzi  was  driven 
back.  Davidowich,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
gained  a  success  on  the  side  of  Trent,  but 
having  too  long  delayed  his  attack  instead 
of  compromising  Bonaparte  in  his  advanced 
position,  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back  into 
the  Tyrol.  It  is  said  that  the  happy  issue 
of  this  nearly  adverse  campaign  first  con- 
firmed Bonaparte  in  the  opinion,  so  often 
afterwards  expressed,  that  he  had  been 
born  under  a  lucky  star. 

Still,  Austria  showed  surprising  vitality 
and  renewed  the  contest  the  following  year. 
Early  in  January  Alvinzi  was  entrusted 
with  a  new  invasion.  He  was  to  advance 
now  by  the  valley  of  the  Trent  with  the 
main  army,  while  a  strong  demonstration 
by  a  smaller  force  was  to  distract  Bona- 
parte's attention  on  the  Lower  Adige, 
aiming  at  the  relief  of  Mantua.  Bonaparte 
was  in  some  doubt  which  was  the  true  line 
of  attack,  but  he  had  himself  concentrated 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     103 

at  Verona,  midway  between  the  two,  till 
certain  news  reached  him  that  Alvinzi's 
was  the  principal  danger.  All  the  available 
French  divisions  were  directed  upon  Rivoli, 
where  Alvinzi,  thinking  that  he  had  only 
one — that  of  Joubert — before  him,  brought 
on  the  battle  of  Eivoli,  and  was  almost 
destroyed.  Meanwhile,  upon  the  other 
line,  Mantua  had  been  relieved,  but  Bona- 
parte flew  back,  and  fought  another  suc- 
cessful engagement.  In  the  end,  Mantua 
surrendered. 

Last  of  all,  the  French  became  the 
aggressors,  and  carried  the  war  across  the 
Austrian  frontier.  Bonaparte,  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1797,  aimed  at  Vienna,  the  very 
heart  of  the  Empire.  Once  more  Austria 
gathered  together  her  forces,  and  entrusted 
them  to  the  Archduke  Charles,  her  best 
General,  who  had  but  just  triumphed  over 
Moreau  and  Jourdan  in  a  series  of  masterly 
movements  on  the  Rhine.  Had  the  Arch- 
duke followed  his  own  genius  he  would  have 
held  the  Tyrol,  but  he  was  ordered  to  cover 
Trieste.  Bonaparte,  despite  the  winter 
snows,  took  the  straightest  road  to  Vienna, 
through  Carinthia  and  Styria,  and  meeting 


104         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  Archduke  en  route,  dislodged  him  suc- 
cessively from  the  lines  of  the  Tagliamento 
and  the  Isonzo.  He  held  on  as  far  as 
Leoben,  where  he  agreed  to  an  armistice, 
and  the  preliminaries  to  the  peace  of  Leoben, 
or,  more  exactly,  of  Campo  Formio,  were 
signed.  Except  for  the  shameful  spoliation 
of  Venice,  his  work  was  over. 

In  all  this  the  man  has  been  obscured  by, 
swallowed  up  in,  the  victorious  General. 
But  he  was  already  more  than  the  brilliantly- 
successful  soldier.  The  little  parvenu  Cor- 
sican,  with  no  heritage  but  his  sword, 
had  used  it  to  such  good  purpose  that 
within  one  short  year  he  had  become  the 
arbiter  of  nations,  holding  the  fate  of  princes 
and  peoples  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  He 
was  now  a  power  to  reckon  with,  respected 
with  a  holy  horror  throughout  Europe,  a 
new  force  that  might  carry  all  before  it. 
"I  am  only  just  beginning,"  he  whispered 
to  his  devoted  Junot.  Every  day  a  new 
horizon  opened  before  him,  and  he  hardly 
knew  where  and  how  far  he  might  go.  It 
may  be  that  ideas  of  sovereign  power  had 
not  taken  definite  shape,  but  he  was  greatly 
pleased  when  the  Milanese  lady  told  him 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     107 

she  had  dreamt  he  was  King  of  Italy. 
Seeing  that  a  full  year  later  he  sought  to 
carve  out  an  empire  for  himself  in  the  Far 
East,  he  can  hardly  have  hoped,  as  yet,  to 
become  the  master  of  France. 

But  he  had  already  set  himself  up  to 
defy  the  Directory,  for  whom  his  contempt 
was  unmeasured,  as  seen  in  his  words  and 
deeds:  "Do  you  think  I  triumph  in  Italy 
to  benefit  those  lawyers  in  Paris  ? "  he  asked 
derisively.  He  arrogated  complete  inde- 
pendence, claimed  to  act  as  a  dictator, 
usurping  functions  the  Directory  never  meant 
he  should  exercise.  His  supremacy  was 
shown  in  his  treating  direct  with  sovereign 
Powers  :  in  his  formation,  proprio  motu,  of 
the  Cispadane  Republic  ;  in  his  first  ignoring, 
then  thwarting,  at  last  making  subservient 
to  his  will,  the  Political  Officer,  General 
Clarke,  whom  the  Directory  sent  to  control 
his  proceedings.  Whatever  ambitious  pro- 
jects were  now  incubating  in  his  capacious 
brain,  they  were  certainly  far  beyond  the 
consolidation  of  the  French  Republic.  He 
saw  no  sufficient  prize  for  himself  in  that. 
He  openly  declared  that  a  Republican  form 
of  Government  was  unsuited  to  the  French 


108         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

people.  "They  want  a  chief — a  chief 
crowned  with  glory,"  he  often  said;  a  man, 
in  short,  like  himself,  who  would  gratify 
their  pride,  but,  leaving  them  only  empty 
puppets  to  play  with,  would  wield  absolute 
authority.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  even 
in  Italy  he  had  not  already  calculated  the 
chances  of  winning  supreme  power. 

As  his  influence  grew,  so  did  his  import- 
ance and  the  State  he  kept  up.  His  Court 
at  Milan  was  semi-regal  in  its  outward 
forms  and  observances.  Bourrienne,  who 
now  joined  him,  found  him  "great  and 
powerful,  surrounded  with  homage  and 
glory."  The  old  friend  made  no  attempt  to 
raise  the  barrier,  to  claim  any  equality ;  he 
kept  a  discreet  distance  from  his  chief,  and 
gave  up  the  familiar  "thee"  and  "thou." 
Yet  in  private  life  Bonaparte  lived  simply, 
with  a  perhaps  studied  austerity  of  morals 
and  demeanour.  He  was  anxious,  a  little 
late  in  the  day,  to  remedy  the  evils  he  had 
himself  called  into  existence — the  systematic 
plunder  and  spoliation  that  so  long  prevailed. 
We  find  him  refusing  with  all  the  indignation 
of  outraged  virtue  the  special  gift  offered 
him  by  the  Duke  of  Modena.     Salicetti  had 


HIS  IH&BUT  AS  A  GENERAL     109 

strongly  urged  him  to  accept  these  four 
millions  of  francs.  "  Thank  you,"  said 
Bonaparte,  "  but  I  am  not  going  to  sell 
myself  for  that  sum."  No  doubt,  had  he 
chosen,  he  might  have  amassed  a  gigantic 
fortune  in  Italy.  Everyone  about  him  did 
so,  often  by  his  advice,  for  he  soon  laughed 
away  the  scrupulousness  of  some,  the  fleur 
de  delicatesse  that  kept  them  from  filling 
their  pockets.  His  own  share  was  said  to 
be  no  more  than  £120,000,  of  which  he 
brought  less  than  half  back  to  Paris.  A 
great  portion  of  this,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Bourrienne,  was  derived  from  the  quick- 
silver mines  of  Idria,  which  he  seized  in 
his  advance  through  Carniola  against  the 
Archduke  Charles. 

Yet  one  gathering  sore  rankled  constantly 
in  his  heart,  embittering  all  his  triumphs. 
We  have  seen  how  the  young  bridegroom 
tore  himself  from  his  wife's  arms ;  how, 
amid  all  the  anxieties  and  distractions  of 
his  command,  his  first  and  last  thought  was 
for  Josephine.  His  love-letters  from  Italy 
are  models  of  impassioned  eloquence.  "  Any 
woman,"  says  prudish  Madame  de  Remusat, 
"  would  have  been  proud  to  receive  them." 


no         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Yet  Josephine  scarcely  answered  them. 
Again  and  again  he  implored  her  to  come 
out  and  join  him.  The  gay  Creole  much 
preferred  Paris  and  its  round  of  gaieties : 
the  incense  poured  before  her  as  "Madame 


GENERAL   BONAPARTE 

{Taken  on  his  Return  from  Italy  by  Guerin) 

Bonaparte,"  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the 
populace  when  she  appeared  in  the  streets, 
the  gratifying  nickname  of  "  Notre  Dame 
des  Victoires."  She  invented  all  sorts  of 
excuses  to  postpone  departure  :  pretended 
to  be  enceinte ;  to  be  too  ill  to  travel.  Then 
Junot  came  on  the  scene,  having  brought 


HIS  DfiBUT  AS  A  GENERAL     in 

trophies  to  lay  before  the  Directory.  And 
Josephine  was  afraid  to  let  him  return  to 
Italy  without  her.  Bonaparte  received  her 
with  transports  which  were  but  coldly 
returned.     One    short   week   of  bliss   and 


MADAME  BONAPARTE 

they  were  again  separated.  The  General 
hurried  off  to  fight  Beaulieu  ;  when  he  flew 
back  to  his  wife,  he  missed  her — she  had 
gone  without  notice,  and  on  some  small 
pleasure  jaunt,  to  Genoa. 

Soon,  in  the  frequent  absences  of  Bona- 
parte, another  and  more  serious  cause  of 


ii2         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

indifference  arose  to  sap  his  happiness. 
Whether  Josephine  was  worse  than  frivolous 
may  never  be  definitely  decided,  but  she 
certainly  was  an  arrant  flirt.  The  General- 
in-Chief  had  rivals,  chief  among  them  a 
gallant  young  hussar,  Hippolyte  Charles, 
General  Le  Clerc's  aide  -  de  -  camp  ;  "  an 
amusing  youth,"  according  to  the  chroniclers 
of  the  time,  for  whom  Josephine  is  said  to 
have  had  an  especial  tendresse.  This  episode 
was  possibly  exaggerated  to  her  disadvan- 
tage, for  we  know  that  Josephine  was 
detested  and  much  maligned  by  Bonaparte's 
family  ;  but  the  affair  ended  in  his  expulsion 
of  Charles  from  the  Army  of  Italy.  Bona- 
parte was,  in  truth,  jealous  of  everyone  at 
that  time. 

This  ardent  love  began  to  abate  in  Italy 
under  the  shocks  of  indifference,  if  not 
positive  ill-usage.  We  may  see  the  grow- 
ing change  in  the  altered  tone  of  the  corre- 
spondence which  still  flowed  from  the  camp 
to  the  Court  when  they  were  parted  by  active 
service.  It  is  asserted  by  some  writers  that 
Bonaparte  was  tempted  by  the  proofs  of  his 
wife's  unworthiness  to  put  her  away  from 
him,  but  that  he  dreaded  the  outburst  of 


HIS  D^BUT  AS  A  GENERAL 


113 


ridicule  that  would  overwhelm  the  "  con^ 
quering  spirit,"  and  preferred  to  wash  his 
dirty  linen  at  home.  Here,  again,  there  is 
probably  exaggeration.  Napoleon,  what- 
ever cause  of  complaint  he  may  have  had 
against  her,  never  lost  his  attachment  to 
Josephine.  They  agreed  to  differ ;  he  went 
his  own  way,  and  was,  as  we  know,  involved 
in  many  serious  affaires  de  cwur,  but  he 
liked  his  wife  to  the  very  last.  He  was, 
indeed,  as  all  his  actions  proved,  constant 
in  his  affections  to  his  own  belongings. 
His  munificent  kindness  to  his  own  family 
is  one  of  the  best  and  most  saving  traits  in 
his  character. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ORIENTAL    DREAMS — 1797-1799 

A.NY  complex  causes  con- 
tributed to  the  French 
invasion  of  Egypt  in 
1798.  It  was  not  a 
new  idea.  Leibnitz 
had  suggested  it  to 
Louis  XIV. ;  the  pro- 
posal had  been  revived  in  a  later  reign ; 
an  ambitious  Frenchman,  Magalon,  Consul 
in  Alexandria,  had  put  a  scheme  for  the 
occupation  before  the  Directory.  But 
the  conception  of  vast  conquest  and  the 
creation  of  a  new  empire  in  the  East 
was  Bonaparte's ;  it  was  characteristic  of 
114 


GENERAL   BONAPARTE 
{From  a  Medallion  by  David) 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS          1 1 7 

his  genius,  so  exactly  calculating  and  stern, 
that  it  had  yet  its  romantic  and  imagina- 
tive side,  and  he  was  led  at  times,  to  his 
own  undoing,  into  wild  and  extravagant 
dreams.  The  glamour  of  the  East  possessed 
him  ;  it  had  been  his  earliest  ambition  to 
seek  fortune  there  ;  it  still  attracted  him 
as  a  field  of  limitless  adventure.  He  told 
Madame  de  Remusat  long  afterwards  that 
he  aimed  at  becoming  a  new  Mahomet ; 
he  was  to  create  a  new  religion,  to  be  the 
ruler  and  law-giver.  "I  saw  myself  in 
Asia,  riding  an  elephant,  wearing  a  turban, 
and  holding  in  my  hand  a  new  Koran, 
written  by  myself."  A  fresh  impulse  in  this 
direction  was  given  by  the  seizure  of  the 
Ionian  Islands.  This  was  the  true  point  of 
departure  for  his  Oriental  policy  ;  that  vast 
project  that  dwarfed  the  conquest  of  Italy 
into  nothingness.  "  I  would  rather  give  up 
Italy,"  he  said  "than  not  have  gained  these 
islands."  They  were  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance to  his  plans  for  the  dispossession  of 
the  Turk,  the  base  from  which  he  might 
strike  a  mortal  blow  at  England's  growing 
power  in  the  East.  The  Ionian  Islands 
gave  France  a  firm  footing  in  the  Levant ; 


n8         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  next  step  essential  to  the  further  de- 
velopment of  his  scheme  was  the  capture 
of  Egypt. 

All  this  was  put  forward  in  the  summer 
of  1797.  But  other  more  pressing  matters 
occupied  him  for  the  moment  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  these  far-fetched  fantastic  views. 
He  was  now  the  uncrowned  King  of  Italy, 
without  the  name  but  with  the  reality  of 
supreme  power  ;  he  had  assumed  sovereign 
state,  with  all  the  splendour  of  a  Court— a 
gorgeous  ceremonial,  surrounded  by  sup- 
pliant Princes ;  the  head  of  society,  a  new 
Maecenas,  encouraging  arts,  science  and 
literature  ;  the  cynosure  of  every  eye.  He 
dined  in  public,  and  the  crowd  was  permitted 
to  see  him  eat,  this  powerful  parvenu  thus 
aping  the  customs  of  the  old  dethroned 
royalty.  All  the  threads  of  government 
were  in  his  hands  :  the  higher  administration 
of  the  Cisalpine  Republic,  his  own  creation  ; 
the  settlement  of  Genoa  and  Venice,  now 
seized,  fraudulently  and  burglariously;  the 
negotiations  for  peace  with  Austria.  He 
was  more  than  ever  defiant  of  the  Directory, 
arrogating  independence,  indignantly  repu- 
diating interference  or  control;   any  criti- 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  119 

cism  of  his  proceedings  was  an  unpardon- 
able outrage.  When  Dumoulard,  a  national 
representative,  presumed  to  condemn  the 
high-handed  treatment  that  enslaved  Italy, 
he  retorted  with  the  bitterest  invective,  and, 
as  usual,  sent  in  his  resignation. 

This  attack,  however,  ranged  him  on  the 
side  of  the  Directory  in  the  coming  conflict 
with  the  party  that  aimed  at  more  settled 
government,  some  of  whom,  with  that  end  in 
view,  would  have  brought  about  a  Bourbon 
restoration.  The  army  naturally  sided  with 
the  Directory,  for  it  had  nothing  to  gain, 
everything  to  lose,  by  the  return  of  the  old 
regime.  No  doubt  Bonaparte  fostered  this 
spirit  in  the  troops  he  commanded,  and 
inspired  the  addresses  of  support  promised 
the  Directory  by  the  Army  of  Italy.  It  was 
he  who  sent  Augereau,  a  brutal  and  un- 
scrupulous soldier,  to  execute  the  coup 
d'etat  of  Fructidor,  for  which  the  pure- 
minded  and  upright  Hoche  had  been  in- 
tended, but  who,  after  having  been  misled, 
failed,  and  was  discarded.  Bonaparte  kept 
an  emissary  of  his  own  in  Paris  to  watch 
events  on  his  behalf — Lavalette,  an  aide-de- 
camp and  devoted  adherent,  whose  warnings 


i2o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

soon  changed  his  chiefs  attitude.  A  closer 
grip  of  the  situation  persuaded  Bonaparte 
that  he  had  better  stand  aloof  from  the 
Directory,  leaving  them  to  bear  the  odium, 
while  he  reaped  later  on  the  advantages  of 
the  coup  d'etat.  The  man  who  could  most 
effectually  control  the  army  must  in  due 
course  benefit  by  the  acceptance  of  brute 
force,  of  armed  strength  as  the  only  law  of 
the  land. 

So  he  held  aloof,  and  abstained  from  ex- 
pressing his  approval  of  the  sorry  victory  he 
had  helped  to  prepare.  His  silence  greatly 
offended  his  nominal  masters,  and  they  were 
not  appeased  by  the  lukewarm  congratula- 
tions he  tardily  forwarded.  The  estrange- 
ment was  widened  by  their  keen  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  which 
he  had  presumed  to  conclude  with  Austria 
according  to  his  own  ideas,  and  ignoring  his 
instructions.  He  was  now  for  peace,  not  war, 
and  was  willing  to  hand  over  Venice,  poor 
helpless  victim  of  his  dishonourable  rapacity, 
as  a  bribe  to  Austria  in  exchange  for  the 
Rhine  frontier  and  that  of  the  Adige.  The 
Directory  insisted  on  much  harder  terms, 
distinctly  forbidding  the  cession  of  Venice, 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  121 

and  making  war  the  alternative.     Bonaparte 
preferred  to  make  peace.     "  Venice  shall  pay 
expenses,  and  the  advocates  in  Paris  may  say 
what  they  please."     But  the  terms  for  which 
he  contended  were  not  really  accepted  by  the 
Austrian  envoy  Cobentzel,  and  it  was  on  this 
occasion   that   the   famous  incident  of  the 
porcelain  vase  occurred.     Bonaparte,  to  gain 
his   object,  still   threatened  war,  and  with 
increasing  fierceness  ;    but  Cobentzel   was 
firm  and  unyielding.     Every  moment's  delay 
brought  the  arrival  of  fresh  injunctions  from 
Paris  nearer  and  nearer  ;  the  business  must 
be  settled ;  and  to  hasten  it  Bonaparte  flew 
into  one  of  those  passions  he  could  simulate 
at  will.     He  rose  in  the  midst  of  the  confer- 
ence, and,  seizing  a  priceless  vase,  the  gift 
of  the  Empress  Catherine  to  Cobentzel,  he 
dashed  it  to  pieces  upon  the  floor,  and  rushed 
out  of  the  room  crying,  "  That  is  how  I  will 
break   your   Monarchy ! "      Next    day    the 
treaty  was  signed ;   the  same  day  express 
orders   arrived   that  would  have  made  its 
conclusion  impossible.     The  Directory  told 
Bonaparte   they  would  relieve  him  of  the 
labours  of  negotiation.     But  it  was  too  late. 
Nor  did  they  dare  refuse  to  ratify  the  treaty, 


122  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

so  loud  and  universal  was  the  joy  throughout 
France  at  the  return  of  peace.  Equally 
vociferous  was  the  approval  of  the  General 
who  had  secured  it.  Bonaparte,  great  in 
pacification  as  he  had  been  in  contest,  was 
now  the  most  popular  hero  in  France. 

He  soon  afterwards  returned  to  Paris,  and 
was  welcomed  with  effusion.  But,  with 
immense  astuteness  and  self-restraint,  he 
appeared  but  little  in  public,  and  his  modesty, 
the  mystery  that  invested  him,  multiplied 
the  eagerness  of  the  crowd  to  do  him  honour. 
The  municipality  of  Paris  had  paid  him  the 
compliment  of  rechristening  the  street  in 
which  he  lived  the  Rue  de  la  Victoire.  Now 
the  Directory,  who  both  hated  and  feared  him, 
were  bound  to  take  the  lead,  and  gave  him  a 
great  public  fete  at  the  Luxembourg,  where 
for  the  first  time  he  was  on  view,  so  to  speak, 
to  the  Parisian  crowd,  who  accorded  him 
the  most  rapturous  reception.  The  official 
welcome  found  voice  in  eloquent  addresses 
doing  justice  to  his  eminent  services  ;  and 
its  sincerity  was  so  little  appreciated  by  its 
object  that  lie  would  not  taste  food  or  drink 
at  the  banquet  that  followed  the/ete. 

That  the  Directory  should  be  anxious  to 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  123 

get  rid  of  Bonaparte  again,  by  fair  means 
or  foul,   was    natural   enough.       Whether 
they  contemplated  the  latter  or  not,  they 
fell  in  eagerly  with  his  new  plans  against 
England  —  for  the   moment   France's  only 
enemy  left  in  the  field — especially  that  part 
which  aimed  at  the  subjugation  of  the  East. 
To  exile  their  dangerous  rival  to  Egypt  was 
the  readiest  method  of  counteracting  any 
ambitious  projects  based  upon  his  increasing 
popularity — projects  which,  as  we  shall  see, 
had  already  taken  definite  shape  and  con- 
sistency.     Bonaparte  had  never  forgotten 
or    laid    aside    his    designs    upon    Egypt, 
Despite  his  many  and   serious   preoccupa- 
tions in  Italy,  he  had  studied  how  to  effect 
the  invasion.     He  had   been   appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  Army  of  England,  and 
had  been   dispatched  in  February  1798  to 
inspect  the  northern  coast  of  France  and 
superintend  the  arrangements  for  attacking 
England.     But  he  carried   in   his   carriage 
the   books    and    plans    for    the    Egyptian 
expedition,   and   worked  upon  them  in  all 
his    spare    time.      He    meant,    indeed,    to 
utilise   for   this    purpose   the   preparations 
made  against  England. 


i24         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

The  most  ardent  worshipper  of  the 
genius  of  Napoleon  must  surely  admit  that 
it  was  at  fault  in  this  new  enterprise,  for 
which  he  was  mainly  responsible.  The 
expedition  to  Egypt  was  a  gigantic  mis- 
take— as  great  as  that  to  Russia,  which 
in  1812  led  to  his  downfall.  From  the 
patriotic  point  of  view  —  not  one  that 
weighed  much,  perhaps  —  it  was  full  of 
dang'er  for  France,  for  it  removed  to  a 
great  distance  the  finest  troops,  the  best 
generals,  at  a  time  when  the  peace  of 
Europe  was  by  no  means  assured.  They 
were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  cut  off  from 
France  for  a  couple  of  years,  practically 
prisoners,  although  at  large,  and  their 
services  absolutely  lost :  the  good  to  be 
gained  was  problematical,  visionary,  an 
empty  conquest,  as  it  presently  proved. 
The  scheme  was  based  on  error,  and  in  one 
chief  particular.  It  wras  aimed  against 
England,  and  it  quite  miscalculated  or 
overlooked  the  sort  of  retaliation  it  might 
provoke.  Napoleon  did  not  realise  till 
long  afterwards  the  extent  of  England's 
naval  power.  At  that  time  Nelson  was  in 
the  Mediterranean  with  a  strong  fleet :  that 


BONAPARTE   IN  EGYPT 
{By  Detaille) 

m  the  original  Picture  in  the  collection  of  Sir  George  White,  Bart.,  Cotham  House,  Bristol. 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  127 

which  presently  ended  the  French  enter- 
prise by  the  crushing  defeat  of  Brueys  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Nile.  From  the  moment 
the  expedition  sailed  it  was  at  the  mercy  of 
the  enemy  afloat,  and  only  escaped  destruc- 
tion by  a  series  of  lucky  chances  that  justi- 
fied Bonaparte's  claim  to  be  the  especial 
favourite  of  fortune. 

Something  more  than  the  proximate  ad- 
vantages urged  Bonaparte  forward.  He 
hoped,  no  doubt,  to  achieve  vast  renown 
on  this  wider  field — to  prove,  indeed,  that 
he  was  the  man  for  France,  the  one  essen- 
tial to  her  greatness.  But  he  had  the 
second  thought  that  this  would  be  further 
assured  by  the  incompetence  of  the  Direc- 
tory when  left  to  itself.  He  admitted 
afterwards  in  his  memoirs  that  if  he  was  to 
become  master  of  France  the  necessity  for 
him  would  be  emphasised  by  the  mishaps 
inevitable  in  his  absence.  Even  now  he 
aspired  to  supreme  power.  When,  on  the 
eve  of  departure,  he  had  planned  a  coup  de 
main  to  seize  it,  the  Directory  had  some- 
thing stronger  than  mere  suspicion  of  his 
intentions.  He  suddenly  wished  to  back 
out  of  the  Eastern  expedition.     The  pros- 


128         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

pect  of  another  war  with  Austria  was  his 
excuse  ;  he  hesitated,  he  said,  to  deprive 
France  of  so  important  an  agent  as  the 
flower  of  the  French  Army.  But  he  was 
hurried  off,  willy-nilly;  his  protests  were 
silenced.  Even  his  favourite  device,  that 
of  resignation,  failed.  For  when  he  offered 
it,  one  of  the  Directors  took  him  at  his 
word,  and,  putting  a  pen  into  his  hand, 
said,  ''Write  it,  by  all  means."  The  farce 
was  ended  by  another  Director  snatching 
the  pen  away. 

All  was  ready ;  the  one  indispensable 
need,  that  of  the  sinews  of  war,  had  been 
met  by  fresh  spoliation.  Switzerland  was 
invaded,  Rome  occupied  afresh.  Greed 
was  undoubtedly  the  motive  cause  of  each. 
"The. Directory  hungered  after  the  millions 
in  the  Treasury  of  Berne,' '  Bonaparte  wrote 
at  the  time.  Berthier,  who  conducted  the 
attack  on  Home,  said  to  his  chief,  "I  know 
I  have  been  sent  here  to  fill  the  cash- box  ! " 
So  open  and  unblushing  was  the  pillage 
that  large  sums  seized  by  General  Brune  at 
Berne  were  sent  straight  to  Toulon.  Greed, 
too,  was  the  bait  dangled  before  the  troops 
to  incite  them  to  the  highest  efforts,  as  in 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  129 

the  first  Italian  campaign.  In  an  address 
to  the  expeditionary  army  Bonaparte  pro- 
mised every  soldier  that  on  his  return  he 
should  bring  back  money  enough  to  buy 
himself  a  couple  of  acres  of  land.  This 
frank  appeal  to  the  worst  passions  of  the 
soldiery  displeased  the  Directory,  and  the 
General  himself  must  have  felt  he  had  gone 
too  far,  for  the  words  do  not  appear  in  his 
later  proclamations,  while  the  authenticity 
of  the  first  address  has  been  denied,  although 
it  rests  on  incontrovertible  authority. 

The  expedition  sailed  on  May  10.  It 
consisted  of  25,000  men,  under  some  of  the 
most  approved  generals  of  the  Republic — 
Desaix,  Kleber,  Davoust,  Reynier,  Caffarelli. 
The  new  generation,  the  coming  men,  were 
represented  by  Murat,  Lannes,  Marmont, 
Berthier,  Andreossi,  Junot,  Lasalle — all 
destined  to  win  great  renown  in  war.  Some 
of  the  most  famous  savants,  French  leaders 
of  light  and  learning,  accompanied  Bona- 
parte :  Monge,  Berthollet,  Denon,  Geoffrey 
St  Hilaire,  Dolmieu.  Their  painstaking 
labours  were  afterwards  published  in  the 
magnificent  Description  of  Egypt,  a  work 
dear  to  bibliophiles,   and  about  the   only 


130         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

tangible  result  of  the  invasion.  They  re- 
vived an  interest  in  that  ancient  land, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  science  of 
Egyptology,  to  which,  however,  they  con- 
tributed little  in  comparison  to  the  work  of 
later  investigators.  It  is  curious  to  note 
that  among  the  operations  recommended 
to  Bonaparte  by  the  Directory  was  ' '  the 
cutting  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  " ;  but  he 
had  no  Lesseps  in  his  train.  Another 
instruction  was  to  "drive  the  English  out 
of  all  their  Eastern  possessions  " — a  work  of 
considerable  magnitude,  which  was  never 
attempted. 

The  voyage  to  Egypt  was  a  series  of 
lucky  escapes  for  the  expedition.  Its  pre- 
paration was  known,  but  not  its  object,  and 
the  bulk  of  the  English  fleet  watched  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  the  most  probable 
issue,  while  Nelson  alone  blockaded  Toulon. 
A  gale  drove  his  ships  to  the  southward, 
and  in  their  absence  the  French  set  sail. 
Nelson  heard  this,  and  followed  in  pursuit, 
but  with  no  knowledge  of  the  course  he 
should  steer,  and  while  he  made  for  Naples, 
the  French  reached  Malta,  which  fell  an 
easy  prey.     No  effort  was  made  to  defend 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  131 

this  ancient  place  of  arms,  a  fortress  still  so 
strong  that  the  French  General  Caffarelli 
wittily  declared  "it  was  well  someone  was 
there  to  open  the  gates,  or  we  should  never 
have  got  inside."  Yet  the  French  fleet 
would  even  then  have  fared  badly  had 
Nelson  come  upon  them.  Admiral  Brueys, 
who  was  in  chief  command  of  this  cumbrous 
flotilla,  five  hundred  ships  in  all,  transports 
and  warships,  carrying  25,000  troops  and 
10,000  seamen,  said  that  a  dozen  enterprising 
frigates  would  have  destroyed  it. 

Now  Nelson,  guessing  the  true  direction 
of  the  French,  hurried  eastward,  but  over- 
shot his  quarry,  and  passing  the  enemy's 
fleet  in  the  night  somewhere  about  Crete, 
reached  Alexandria  before  it.  Finding  no 
one,  he  sailed  on  to  the  Levant,  but  his 
ships  had  not  been  gone  one  day  before  the 
French  arrived.  Bonaparte,  fearing  they 
were  still  near,  disembarked  precipitately 
and  occupied  Alexandria.  He  had  got  into 
the  rat-trap  with  great  ease  and  seeming 
good  fortune.  Barely  six  weeks  had  elapsed 
since  his  departure  from  Toulon.  He  had 
taken  Malta,  and  Egypt  lay  at  his  mercy. 

The  Land  of  the  Pharaohs  was  at  that 


1 32  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

time  held  by  the  Mamelukes,  a  military 
caste  owning  nominal  allegiance  to  their 
Suzerain,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  They  were 
a  species  of  Praetorian  Guards,  slaves  re- 
cruited in  Circassia  and  Georgia,  rendering 
duty  to  their  masters,  the  Beys.  It  was 
with  these  that  Bonaparte  had  first  to  deal. 
The  march  of  his  army  across  the  desert  in 
the  dog-days  had  sorely  tried  his  troops  : 
short  of  food  and  suffering  the  pangs  of 
thirst,  they  murmured  loudly  and  lost  all 
heart.  But  the  first  encounter  with  the 
Mamelukes  restored  their  spirit.  It  was  a 
massacre  more  than  a  defeat,  for  the  native 
horsemen  could  make  no  impression  on  the 
French  squares.  A  second  action  was 
fought  under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids 
with  a  like  result.  The  French  had  but 
twenty  or  thirty  killed ;  the  Mamelukes  a 
couple  of  thousand.  And  after  the  victory 
came  the  plunder.  Every  Mameluke  carried 
his  property  on  his  person  :  costly  arms, 
jewel -incrusted,  and  bags  full  of  gold. 
The  French  soldiers  despoiled  their  foes 
found  dead  upon  the  field,  and,  as  many 
perished  n  the  Nile,  they  contrived  to  fish 
out  the  corpses  by  twisting  their  bayonets 


mUM          \I8**SM 

' v  • 

BONAPARTE    AT   THE    PYRAMIDS 
0<4/&r  /A*  Picture  by  Gros) 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  135 

into  boat-hooks.  After  that  Bonaparte  re- 
ported that  his  men  were  more  reconciled 
to  Egypt.  All  promised  well,  indeed,  for 
the  establishment  of  the  new  power,  when 
a  terrible  catastrophe  destroyed  every  hope 
and  practically  sealed  the  fate  of  the  ex- 
pedition. This  was  Nelson's  victory  of  the 
Nile. 

Admiral  Brueys  had  been  left  off  Alex- 
andria with  orders  to  take  shelter  in  that 
port  or  in  the  Bay  of  Aboukir.  Failing 
both,  he  was  to  return  to  Corfu.  He  did 
fail  in  both,  and  yet  could  not  leave,  for  he 
had  neither  food  nor  stores.  Moreover,  he 
had  no  news  from  the  army.  All  communi- 
cations had  been  intercepted,  and  he  could 
not  well  withdraw  till  he  was  satisfied  that 
Bonaparte  had  succeeded  and  could  carry 
or  transmit  the  news  to  France.  In  the 
midst  of  these  reasonable  hesitations  Nelson 
caught  and  smote  him  where  he  lay,  help- 
less, in  the  Bay  of  Aboukir. 

The  destruction  of  their  means  of  retreat 
spread  dismay  through  the  French  ranks, 
but  Bonaparte  met  the  disaster  with  a  firm 
front,  and  sought  to  consolidate  his  position 
in  the  country,  to   complete   its   conquest, 


136         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

develop  it,  and  make  it  self-contained.  His 
quick  eye  saw  the  capabilities  of  the 
country,  the  fertility  that  had  made  it  once 
the  great  granary  of  the  world ;  and  had 
he  been  left  to  work  out  a  benign  policy  he 
might  have  anticipated  the  prosperity  it  is 
now  at  last  achieving  under  English  rule. 
But  Bonaparte  was  never  a  man  of  peace ; 
and  moreover,  he  was  soon  called  upon  to 
meet  attack  from  within  and  without. 

A  secret  conspiracy  in  Cairo,  organised 
among  the  most  turbulent  populace  in  the 
world,  showed  what  little  hold  he  had  upon 
the  people  he  claimed  to  have  rescued  from 
oppression.  This  insurrection  proved  that 
there  could  be  no  alliance  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  Sham  Mohamme- 
danism could  have  nothing  in  common  with 
the  fanaticism  of  the  true  believer.  The 
wild  Cairenes  would  have  none  of  Bona- 
parte's pretences,  and  rose  in  sudden  fierce 
revolt;  they  slew  French  soldiers  in  the 
streets,  and  proclaimed  a  holy  war.  Of 
course,  the  revolt  was  suppressed  with 
ruthless  severity ;  the  streets  ran  with  blood, 
every  Arab  taken  with  arms  in  his  hands 
was  slain.     Sacks  full  of  human  heads  were 


£3  4 

o    I 

H 

H 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  139 

displayed  one  morning  in  the  Esbekiyeh 
place.  Two  or  three  thousand  lives  were 
taken  as  the  penalty  of  resisting  the 
blessings  of  French  domination.  Now  a 
far  more  serious  danger  loomed  near.  The 
Porte  had  never  acquiesced  in  the  invasion 
of  Egypt,  and  was  now  preparing  to  re- 
possess the  country  by  force  of  arms.  Two 
armies  were  collected,  one  at  Rhodes,  the 
other  in  Syria,  and  Bonaparte  resolved  to 
take  the  initiative  against  the  latter.  He 
had  aimed  always  at  Syria  as  the  stepping- 
stone,  the  intermediate  station  between 
Egypt  and  India.  He  had  not  yet  awakened 
from  his  extravagant  dream,  from  the  wild 
ambition  of  emulating  Alexander  the  Great 
or,  failing  that,  of  uniting  the  Christian 
populations  in  a  descent  upon  Constanti- 
nople. Thence,  having  made  short  work 
of  the  Grand  Turk,  he  would  return  on 
Europe  "from  the  reverse  side."  With  all 
these  fantastic  fancies  he  was  keenly  alive 
to  the  advantages  of  striking  first  and  early. 
In  1799  he  advanced  into  Syria  at  the  head 
of  11,000  men.  The  rest  of  his  army  held 
Upper  Egypt,  Cairo  and  Alexandria. 

This  campaign  in  Syria  added  nothing  to 


i4o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  General's  military  reputation.  It  was 
chequered  by  failures,  disappointments,  by 
at  least  one  black  deed.  Successful  at  El 
Arish  and  Jaffa,  his  hitherto  conquering 
soldiers  were  repelled  at  Acre  by  the  sturdy 
defence,  of  which  an  English  sailor,  Sir 
Sidney  Smith,  was  the  heart  and  soul. 
Kleber's  danger  at  Mount  Tabor  was  con- 
verted into  a  victory  by  Bonaparte,  and  an 
army  coming  from  Damascus  to  raise  the 
Siege  of  Acre  was  routed  and  dispersed. 
But  the  French  could  not  take  Acre.  It 
was  assaulted  fourteen  times,  with  serious 
losses  in  men  and  officers,  and  always  un- 
successfully ;  the  besieged  made  twenty- six 
sorties,  and  did  much  damage.  The  plague 
was  epidemic  in  the  French  camp.  A 
Turkish  army  had  embarked  at  Rhodes  for 
Egypt.  Bonaparte  knew  that  he  must 
retreat.  Acre  was,  in  fact,  a  smaller 
Moscow — a  lesser  disaster,  but  yet  having 
a  distinct  influence  on  his  character  and 
destiny.  It  shattered  once  and  for  all  his 
vague  pretensions  to  an  Eastern  career. 
It  brought  him  down  from  chimera  to  bald 
fact.  Henceforth,  as  he  told  Joseph,  he 
had  done  with  imagination.     It  was  killed 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  141 

at  Acre.  It  is  strange,  indeed,  that  this 
strong  brain  should  have  been  beguiled 
into  such  vagaries,  and  upon  such  purely 
visionary  grounds.  He  soon  found  that 
he  had  narrowly  missed  the  substance  by 
grasping  at  the  shadow. 

It  will  be  well,  before  quitting  the  Syrian 
episode,  to  consider  the  grave  impeachment 
that  rests  upon  his  character  in  at  least  one 
phase  of  the  campaign.  All  who  yield  un- 
questioning, not  to  say  blind,  homage  to  the 
genius  of  Napoleon,  and  resent  the  plain 
speaking  of  more  independent  critics,  should 
remember  the  massacre  of  prisoners  at 
Jaffa.  The  act  has  been  glozed  over  and 
excused,  but  never  denied.  Napoleon  in 
later  years  admitted  it,  but  gave  reasons 
that  will  not  bear  examination.  The  story 
runs — a  true  story,  too,  if  we  are  to  believe 
irrefragable  evidence — that  after  the  capture 
of  Jaffa  some  2500  prisoners  remained  as  a 
burden  upon  Bonaparte.  He  knew,  if  he 
released  them,  it  would  be  to  reinforce  the 
enemy ;  to  hold  them  was  a  tax  upon  his 
means  and  supplies.  After  two  days'  doubt 
he  solved  the  difficulty  by  slaughtering  them 
in  cold  blood  upon  the  shore,  where  they 


142         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

were  shot  down  or  bayoneted  by  the  un- 
willing soldiery,  some  of  whose  officers 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  butchery.  Two 
of  the  excuses  offered  have  been  given ;  a 
third  was  that  they  were  mostly  released 
after  El  Arish,  and  had  again  taken  up 
arms.  The  first  excuse  might  be  valid, 
although  little  was  really  to  be  feared  from 
any  number  of  the  enemy,  so  ill-matched 
were  the  combatants,  except  in  the  one 
affair  of  Acre ;  as  for  food,  a  vast  quantity 
of  biscuits  and  rice  had  been  captured ;  as 
for  the  breach  of  faith,  no  more  than  two 
or  three  hundred  men  could  have  been 
furnished  from  El  Arish.  It  is  a  terrible 
blot  upon  his  character,  a  stigma  he  would 
willingly  have  removed. 

His  guilt  in  another  discreditable  trans- 
action was  never  clearly  brought  home  to 
him — the  charge  of  poisoning  a  number  of 
his  plague-stricken  soldiers.  It  was  believed 
in  the  French  army  at  the  time  that  Bona- 
parte suggested  to  his  principal  surgeon 
that  opium  should  be  given  to  the  sick  to 
spare  them  a  more  cruel  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  Turks.  The  story  has  been  seriously 
affirmed  and  indignantly  denied,  but  perhaps 


ORIENTAL  DREAMS  143 

the  best  defence  is  the  fact  that  when  Sir 
Sidney  Smith  arrived  at  Jaffa  he  found 
many  Frenchmen  in  hospital  still  alive.  A 
plausible  explanation  is  that  opium  was 
placed  at  each  bedside  when  the  sick  were 
abandoned  to  their  fate,  and  that  any  who 
saw  no  other  escape  from  torture  had  thus 
the  means  of  suicide.  But  now  the  end 
was  approaching ;  the  dream  was  nearly 
over.  Soon  after  Bonaparte's  return  to 
Cairo,  the  landing  of  a  Turkish  army  gave 
him  a  chance  of  closing  the  Egyptian  episode 
and  of  ending  the  fiasco  under  a  last  victory, 
easily  won.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  a 
pile  of  newspapers  fell  into  his  hands,  sent 
him  by  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  as  some  say,  with 
malicious  intention.  Now  for  the  first  time 
he  read  how  defeat  and  misfortune  had 
closed  in  on  France  during  his  absence  : 
Italy  was  lost  again,  the  invasion  of  France 
imminent,  the  Directory  discredited  and  at 
its  last  gasp.  He  had,  in  brief,  grasped  at 
the  shadow  and  left  the  substance.  In 
France  lay  his  real  opportunity.  There  he 
might  regain  lost  ground,  and  by  a  daring 
stroke  restore  his  fortunes. 

He  resolved  to  brave  all  dangers  in  the 


i44  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

way— all  the  odium  of  a  flight  to  France. 
He  knew  he  must  be  blamed  for  deserting 
the  comrades  he  had  led  into  this  impasse, 
and  who  relied  upon  his  genius  to  help  them 
out.  Not  only  did  he  himself  abandon 
them,  but  he  robbed  the  army  in  Egypt  of 
its  best  officers.  When  he  embarked  secretly 
for  France  he  was  accompanied  by  a  chosen 
band  of  followers,  the  cream  and  flower  of 
the  force. 


UVi 


CHAPTER  V 

SOVEREIGN   POWER — 1799-1800 

APOLEON'S  star  was 
still  in  the  ascendant 
when  the  18th  Bru- 
maire  (November  10) 
brought  Him  to  sove- 
reign power.  Fortune 
smiled  on  him  in  his 
flight  from  Egypt ;  it  played  for  him  when 
he  landed  in  France.  On  the  voyage  he 
was  saved  almost  by  a  miracle  from 
English  cruisers  and  an  English  war- 
prison  ;  he  should  have  been  arrested  on 
landing  for  a  breach  of  the  quarantine 
regulations.  He  made  a  triumphal  progress 
through  the  provinces  to  Paris,  and,  instead 

K  145 


/cv 


i46  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  glorious  acclaim,  he  should  have  been 
taxed  with  failure  and  the  loss  of  many 
legions.  Finally,  the  great  plot,  which  was 
so  curiously  successful,  was  sadly  marred  by 
flaws  in  its  plan,  by  errors  in  its  execution. 
There  were  times  when  the  issue  hung  by  a 
thread.  The  attempt  was  in  the  main  astute 
and  audacious,  but  it  neglected  to  provide 
for  the  handling  of  the  two  Councils,  and  at 
the  supreme  moment  Bonaparte  was  quite 
unequal  to  the  occasion.  His  conduct  at 
St  Cloud  was  so  weak  and  injudicious  that, 
but  for  his  brother  Lucie n,  the  whole  affair 
might  have  ended  in  a  miserable  fiasco. 

Withal,  the  "pear  was  ripe,"  to  use 
Bonaparte's  expression,  and  ready  to  be 
plucked  by  any  daring  hand.  The  existing 
Government  was  completely  discredited  in 
the  country ;  defeat  abroad,  distress  at 
home,  had  so  shaken  the  Directory  that  the 
Councils,  newly  elected  by  the  popular  voice, 
were  strong  enough  to  change  its  members. 
Three  of  these  were  ciphers,  but  the  fourth, 
Sieves,  an  ex-abbe,  was  an  ambitious,  capable 
politician,  who  held  clear  views,  and  had  a 
new  Constitution  in  his  pocket.  Now  in 
the  chaos  of  parties  a  new  Jacobin  Club 


NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE 

{From  the  Portrait  by  Greuze  in  the  Versailles  Gallery') 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  149 

had  been  formed,  which  aimed  at  control 
and  would  have  revived  the  Terror ;  it 
included  two  good  soldiers,  Jourdan  and 
Bernadotte,  and  was  for  a  vigorous  prose- 
cution of  the  war.  Sieves,  also  eager  for 
fresh  military  triumphs,  looked  about  for  a 
general  who  would  win  victories  without 
meddling  with  politics.  After  coquetting 
fruitlessly  with  Bernadotte,  he  found  him 
in  Joubert,  who,  unfortunately,  fell  at  Novi ; 
then  he  addressed  Moreau,  an  honest  man, 
but  of  weak  and  vacillating  spirit,  who 
rejected  his  advances.  His  sympathies, 
too,  were  with  the  exiled  Bourbons,  and 
he  dreamed  of  a  monarchical  restoration. 
Sieyes  might  now  have  turned  to  Massena 
or  Brune,  both  of  whom  had  just  been 
successful  in  the  field,  but  at  this  juncture 
Bonaparte  reappeared.  Here  was  the  man, 
and  more  than  the  man,  for  the  situation. 
Sieyes  "  wanted  a  general,  but  a  general  he 
could  control,"  and  with  his  keen  judgment 
he  foresaw  that  if  he  offered  Bonaparte  a 
ladder  it  would  be  kicked  down  as  soon  as 
used.  When  at  length  they  were  brought 
together  by  the  force  of  common  interests 
and  the  efforts  of  common  friends,   Sieyes 


ISO         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

knew  the  fate  that  was  in  store  for  him. 
"If  we  succeed,  Bonaparte  will  throw  us 
all  aside  like  that !  "  and  he  made  a  signifi- 
cant gesture.  After  Brumaire  he  recalled 
these  predictions,  saying,  "We  have  found 
our  master.  Bonaparte  means  to  do  every- 
thing ;  he  knows  how,  and  he  can." 

On  his  first  arrival,  however,  the  young 
General  held  aloof  from  all  parties,  consider- 
ing carefully  which  side  he  had  best  espouse. 
His  prestige  in  the  country  was  undoubtedly 
great ;  it  had  been  revived  by  the  publication 
of  his  dispatches  announcing  the  really  sorry 
victory  of  Aboukir ;  the  people  at  large 
had  always  thought  him  a  victim  exiled  to 
the  Far  East  by  a  jealous  and  vindictive 
Government,  and  to  express  their  feelings, 
they  caught  at  the  chance  title  of  a  play 
performed  at  Lyons  as  he  passed  through. 
"  The  return  of  the  hero  "  was  a  phrase  on 
every  lip.  During  his  absence,  his  family 
had  worked  hard  in  his  cause.  There  were 
Bonapartist  salons  at  Josephine's  and  at 
her  sister-in-law's  houses,  where  much  of 
the  intelligence  and  the  best  wit  of  Paris 
constantly  collected.  Both  Joseph  and 
Lucien  were  ever  active  in  gaining  friends 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  151 

or  increasing  the  disunion  of  factions.  The 
feeling  in  the  army  could  not  be  exactly 
gauged,  but  two  regiments  in  the  garrison 
of  Paris  had  served  with  him  in  Italy,  and 
Murat  had  won  over  a  third.  He  might 
not  count  upon  all  the  leaders,  for  Auge- 
reau,  Jourdan  and  Bernadotte  were  openly 
hostile  ;  but  he  had  brought  with  him  many 
faithful  friends  from  Egypt — Lannes,  Murat, 
Berthier  and  Marmont.  Again,  Beurnon- 
ville  and  Macdonald  believed  in  him,  and 
he  found  many  officers  whom  he  had  pro- 
vided for  when  Governor  of  Paris  in  1796. 

While  waiting  to  choose  his  part,  he  used 
his  old  arts  to  increase  his  popularity,  stimu- 
lating the  curiosity  of  the  people  ;  keeping 
much  out  of  the  way,  mysteriously  apart, 
seldom  appearing  in  public,  sitting  in  a 
latticed  box  at  the  theatre,  constantly  visit- 
ing the  Institute,  and  in  plain  clothes,  so  as 
to  exalt  the  civil  over  the  military  idea,  to 
sink  the  ambitious  soldier  in  the  peaceable 
citizen. 

But  behind  this  scene  he  was  intriguing 
busily.  His  first  notion  was  to  dispossess 
Sieyes  and  to  supplant  him  in  the  Direc- 
torate ;  but  he  did  not  possess  the  age  quali- 


152         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

fication — forty  years— and  the  other  Direc- 
tors would  not  yield  on  this  point.  He  next 
tried  the  Jacobin  Club,  which,  although  it 
had  been  roughly  handled  by  Sieyes,  who 
was  really  head  of  the  executive,  was  still 
a  power,  backed  by  the  three  Generals, 
Augereau,  Jourdan  and  Bernadotte.  This 
party,  as  maintaining  the  old  Republicanism, 
was  influential  in  the  country  and  with 
the  army,  and  might  easily  have  carried 
Bonaparte  forward  into  a  position  to  seize 
the  reins  of  State.  But  Bernadotte  was 
obstinately  hostile ;  he  saw  in  Bonaparte 
a  dangerous  rival  to  his  own  personal 
ambition.  Later,  when  the  chief  plot  was 
on  the  verge  of  denouement,  Bernadotte  and 
others  organised  a  counter-plot,  which  was 
to  forestall  Bonaparte  at  St  Cloud ;  but  it 
proved  abortive  through  the  treachery  of 
Salicetti,  one  of  the  number. 

Now  at  last  Bonaparte  was  brought  to 
see  that  the  safest  and  most  promising 
combination  was  with  Sieyes.  There  was 
no  love  lost  between  them,  they  distrusted 
and  hated  each  other  heartily.  Only  a 
few  days  before,  Sieyes  wished  to  have 
Bonaparte  shot  for  breaking   the  military 


SOVEREIGN  POWER 


DO 


code.  Again  Bonaparte  would  have  dis- 
graced Sieves  as  a  pensioner  of  Prussia  and 
a  traitor  to  his  country.  Josephine  said 
openly  to  all  who  would  listen  that  Sieyes 
was  her  husband's  bete  noire.  But  their 
common  friends,  such  men  as  Talleyrand, 
Roederer,  Cabanis,  were  eager  for  the  alli- 
ance, caring  little  whether  the  two  leaders 
fell  out  afterwards,  so  as  the  general  cause 
was  gained  and  the  rapprochement  was 
effected.  Sieyes  gave  in  with  reluctance ; 
although  a  coward  at  heart,  he  knew  he  was 
sacrificing  himself.  Bonaparte  readily  over- 
came his  own  repugnance,  and  willingly 
made  the  first  overtures,  feeling  that  he 
could  make  short  work  of  Sieyes,  while  he 
was  fully  alive  to  the  immediate  benefits  of 
associating  himself  with  conspirators  whose 
plans  had  long  been  laid.  Everything  was 
so  far  organised  already  that  when  Bona- 
parte came  into  the  plot  it  was  decided 
to  strike  the  great  blow  within  a  week  or 
ten  days.  The  principles,  the  means  and 
methods,  had  been  discussed  and  prepared  ; 
the  motive  power  alone  was  wanting.  The 
man  of  action  was  found  in  Bonaparte,  a 
role  for  which  he  was  pre-eminently  well 


i54         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

fitted,  although  he  fell  away  sadly  in  the 
hour  of  supreme  trial. 

Sieyes  having,  so  to  speak,  abdicated, 
Bonaparte  took  the  lead,  and  applied  his 
vigorous  mind  to  perfecting  the  prepara- 
tions and  consolidating  the  forces  that 
made  for  the  conspiracy.  Two  Directors 
had  been  gained  over,  Ducos  and  Sieyes, 
the  latter  also  controlled  a  majority  in  the 
Council  of  Ancients ;  Lucien  Bonaparte 
was  President  of  the  Council  of  Five 
Hundred,  a  stronghold  of  Jacobinism,  but 
with  a  few  good  friends  to  the  opposite 
cause ;  the  Municipality  of  Paris  was 
favourable ;  Fouche,  who  smelt  out  the 
conspiracy,  and  was  ready  to  join  it  if  it 
promised  to  win  the  day,  guaranteed  the 
neutrality  of  the  police.  Money  was  ad- 
vanced, £40,000  in  hard  cash  by  certain 
tradesmen  of  Paris,  to  meet  preliminary 
expenses.  The  one  doubtful  quantity  was 
the  probable  attitude  of  the  great  body, 
the  rank  and  file,  of  the  army,  largely  Re- 
publican, and  therefore  in  principle  on  the 
side  of  the  Jacobins.  But  soldiers  are 
seldom  acute  politicians,  the  French,  easily 
roused  by  enthusiasm,  least  of  all ;  and  it 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  155 

was  hoped  that  the  troops  would  throw  in 
their  lot  with  their  own  Generals  rather 
than  with  the  "  Advocates"  and  "Pekins," 
whose  opinions  they  really  shared. 

Most  of  the  Generals  were  already  on  the 
side  of  the  conspiracy.  Moreau  had  not 
given  in  his  formal  adhesion,  but  Bona- 
parte had  attracted  him  by  his  camaraderie 
— his  frank  admiration  for  the  other's 
brilliant  deeds,  his  magnificent  gifts ;  they 
had  freely  exchanged  views  on  the  military 
art  at  their  first  meeting,  and  parted  good 
friends,  although  Moreau,  indisposed  as 
ever  to  take  a  decided  line,  had  refused  to 
listen  to  Bonaparte's  plans.  His  answer 
on  another  occasion  was  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  know  any  secrets,  but  that  he  was 
sick  to  death  of  the  "  Advocates,"  and  with 
his  staff  was  quite  at  Bonaparte's  disposal. 
Macdonald  and  Serrurier  had  made  the 
same  promise.  Lefebvre  (the  husband  of 
Madame  Sans-Gene)  was  a  staunch  Re- 
publican ;  he  was  Military  Governor  of 
Paris,  and  the  Directors  outside  the  con- 
spiracy relied  confidently  upon  his  support. 
Bonaparte,  knowing  his  man,  left  him  in 
the  dark  until  the  last  moment,  meaning 


156         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

to  secure  him  by  some  impassioned  appeal. 
The  task  of  winning  over  the  body  of 
officers  was  entrusted  to  the  General's  most 
staunch  supporters.  Berthier  took  charge 
of  those  high  in  rank ;  Marmont,  who  be- 
longed to  that  arm,  the  artillery ;  Murat, 
for  the  same  reason,  the  cavalry ;  and 
Lannes,  the  infantry. 

The  air  was  full  of  portents.  Yet 
the  nonconforming  Directors,  under  the 
blandishments  of  Bonaparte,  were  both 
blind  and  deaf.  One  of  them,  Gohier, 
presided  at  a  banquet  given  to  Bona- 
parte. It  was  to  have  been  a  public 
compliment,  but,  while  the  Ancients  ap- 
proved, the  Five  Hundred  opposed  it,  and 
the  necessary  funds  were  provided  by 
subscription.  No  more  silent  and  gloomy 
fete  could  be  imagined.  Every  mind  was 
preoccupied,  the  conspirators  were  full  of 
their  dark  schemes.  What  Bonaparte  felt 
may  be  seen  in  his  marked  abstinence  at 
the  feast :  he  ate  or  drank  nothing  but 
a  crust  of  bread,  brought  by  the  faithful 
Duroc,  with  a  pint  of  red  wine.  At  such 
an  epoch  and  while  meditating  dark  deeds 
the  basest  reprisals  were  possible.    Whether 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  157 

or  not  Hoche  had  been  poisoned,  his  fate 
was  a  warning  to  Bonaparte,  who  remained 
but  a  short  half-hour  at  the  banquet ;  then, 
escaping  by  a  side-door,  he  joined  Sieves, 
and  the  final  arrangements  were  made. 

This  was  November  6,  the  15th  Brumaire, 
only  three  days  before  the  first  blow  was 
struck.  The  plan  now  adopted  was,  first 
the  removal  of  the  Councils  from  Paris  to 
St  Cloud  under  a  clause  in  the  Constitu- 
tion when  danger  threatened  them,  and  a 
Jacobin  plot  was  invented  by  the  con- 
spirators to  justify  this.  The  same  decree 
was  to  invest  Bonaparte  with  the  supreme 
command  of  all  the  troops  in  Paris ;  the 
Directory  was  then  to  be  extinguished  by 
the  arrest  or  enforced  resignation  of  all 
members  hostile  to  the  movement,  and  the 
Councils  were  to  be  compelled  to  create  a 
new  form  of  government,  a  triumvirate  of 
dictators — Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  and  l\oger 
Ducos. 

On  the  day  the  Ancients  were  to  be 
invited  to  make  the  decree,  Bonaparte. 
presuming  on  authority  not  yet  conferred 
upon  him,  ordered  a  grand  parade  of  the 
troops    and    summoned  all    the    Generals 


158         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  his  following  to  meet  him  in  front  of 
his  house  at  six  in  the  morning.  Moreau 
was  among  the  number,  Bernadotte  also, 
but  in  plain  clothes  and  still  very  stand- 
off; Lefebvre,  warned  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  obeyed  in  surprise,  which  was 
heightened  at  seeing  regiments  on  the 
move  under  orders  other  than  his.  He 
was  greatly  annoyed,  but  when  Bona- 
parte asked  him  if  he  would  suffer  the 
"Advocates"  to  destroy  the  Republic,  he 
replied  hotly,  "  Certainly  not !  let  us  throw 
them  into  the  Seine  ! " 

Meanwhile  the  Ancients  had  assembled, 
and  had  passed  the  decrees.  They  were 
brought  to  Bonaparte  where  he  waited  in 
the  Rue  de  la  Victoire,  surrounded  by  his 
staff,  and  he  read  them  aloud,  calling  on 
them  to  aid  him  in  succouring  the  country. 
Then.,  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant  cortege,  he 
rode  to  the  Tuileries  through  the  streets, 
every  important  point  in  which,  every  issue, 
was  now  strongly  occupied  by  troops.  He 
was  well  received  all  along  his  route, 
although  there  was  little  enthusiasm 
among  the  people ;  Paris  was  quiet,  even 
apathetic.     Arrived    at    the    Hall   of   the 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  159 

Ancients,  he  was  admitted  to  express  his 
ardent  love  for  the  Constitution  and  his 
resolve  to  die  in  its  defence.  He  swore 
that  France  should  enjoy  true  freedom, 
based  upon  civil  liberty  and  national  re- 
presentation, but  he  evaded  taking  the  oath 
of  the  Constitution ;  and  when  called  upon 
to  do  so,  his  friends  broke  up  the  meeting, 
declaring  that  since  the  last  decree  no  pro- 
ceedings were  legal  except  at  St  Cloud. 
By  this  time  the  Five  Hundred  had  met 
and  were  greatly  agitated,  demanding  full 
explanation  of  the  decree  of  removal ;  but 
Lucien,  their  President,  put  them  off  with 
difficulty  till  next  day. 

Everything  seemed  to  promise  well,  so 
much  so  that  the  chief  conspirator  was 
greatly  elated  and  confident  of  success. 
He  would  not  listen  to  those  who,  like 
Sieves,  urged  the  necessity  for  arbitrary 
precautions,  the  prompt  arrest  of  the  most 
irreconcilable  in  the  two  Councils,  the 
closure  of  the  barrier  gates  of  Paris.  The 
neglect  of  one  or  two  vital  points  was 
probably  due  to  this  same  over-confidence. 
It  was  a  grave  error  to  have  left  un- 
settled how  the   Five  Hundred  should   be 


160         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

dealt  with  if  they  proved  refractory,  or  by 
whom.  The  failure  to  prepare  St  Cloud 
for  the  sittings  of  the  Council  was  a  mis- 
take that  might  have  ruined  everything, 
for  it  meant  delay  when  despatch  in 
striking  blow  on  blow  was  the  essence 
of  the  situation.  One  danger — that  of 
Bernadotte's  counterstroke — was,  however, 
warded  off,  as  I  have  said. 

The  military  measures  taken  were  sound 
and  comprehensive,  as  might  have  been 
expected  with  so  eminent  a  soldier.  The 
decisive  points  were  occupied  in  force,  and 
at  each  a  trusty  general  held  the  command. 
Lannes  was  at  the  Tuileries ;  Marmont  in 
the  £cole  Militaire  ;  Serrurier  took  charge 
of  the  Point  du  Jour ;  Macdonald,  of 
Versailles  ;  and  Murat,  fiery  and  impetuous 
and  uncompromising,  was  at  St  Cloud.  To 
Moreau  was  entrusted  the  post  of  honour, 
as  it  seemed,  the  safe  keeping  of  the 
Luxembourg,  the  headquarters  of  the 
executive,  where  the  two  dissentient 
Directors,  Gohier  and  Moulins,  were  held 
as  prisoners.  By  this  astute  selection 
Moreau  was  made  responsible  for  the 
arbitrary  act  and  suffered  for  it  in  the  loss 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  161 

of  character  and  influence.  But  he  fell 
readily  into  the  trap,  beguiled  into 
the  belief  that  while  Bonaparte  might 
wield  civil  power,  he  (Moreau)  would 
be  Commander-in-Chief.  Jourdan  and 
Augereau  were  not  utilised,  much  to  the 
chagrin  of  the  latter,  who  gave  in  his 
adhesion  too  late. 

Bonaparte  joined  Murat  at  St  Cloud 
early,  where  there  were  8000  troops,  partly 
made  up  of  the  Legislative  Guard.  The 
members  of  the  Council  began  to  collect 
about  noon,  but  did  not  meet  in  session  till 
two  in  the  afternoon,  as  no  chambers  had 
been  prepared.  Then  the  Five  Hundred 
assembled  in  the  Orangerie  upon  the 
ground-floor,  the  Ancients  upstairs  in  the 
Hall  of  Apollo.  The  Five  Hundred, 
uneasy,  distrustful,  and  mainly  still  loyal 
to  the  Constitution,  insisted  that  all  should 
swear  allegiance  to  it  anew,  a  proposal 
gladly  accepted  by  Lucien  Bonaparte,  their 
President,  as  it  would  gain  time.  The 
Ancients,  although  favourable  to  the  con- 
spiracy, hesitated  how  to  act,  when  a 
letter  was  received  falsely  stating  that 
four  Directors  had  resigned,  and  that  the 


1 62  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Directory  no  longer  existed,  whereas 
Barras  alone  had  resigned,  and  Gohier 
and  Moulins  were  under  restraint.  This 
strange  news  was  followed  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  Bonaparte  in  the  Hall. 

All  now  rested  with  him.  He  had  only 
to  make  good  his  case ;  to  give  the  An- 
cients some  specious  excuse  for  arbitrary 
measures.  But  he  could  not  tell  them 
what  to  do ;  he  could  not  help  them  to 
justify  what  they  had  already  done.  He 
was  terribly  agitated,  and  had  none  of  his 
native  eloquence  at  command — the  torrent 
of  words  that  might  serve  for  arguments 
and  carry  away  an  audience  gained  in 
advance.  He  had  made  the  mistake  of 
believing  that  overt  acts  of  rebellion  could 
be  concealed  under  legal  forms  ;  the  strong 
arm  can  strike  and  conquer  in  the  heat  of 
conflict,  but  in  the  presence  of  a  cold, 
critical  assembly  it  is  not  easy  to  find  an 
excuse  for  force.  Bonaparte  failed  entirely 
to  show  what  dangers  threatened  the 
Republic  or  from  what  quarter.  He  first 
charged  the  Jacobins,  then  Barras  and 
Moulins,  lastly  the  Five  Hundred,  but 
could  give  no  details.     His  charge  against 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  163 

the  Five  Hundred  was  the  more  absurd,  as 
it  was  already  the  sovereign  power.  When 
further  pressed  he  stammered  and  lost 
countenance — lost,  indeed,  his  head.  All 
he  could  say  was  that  he  had  been  invited 
to  overthrow  the  Government  and  accept 
power  he  could  hold  only  at  the  hands  of 
the  French  people.  Then  he  passed  to 
threats,  pointing  to  the  troops  in  sight, 
swearing  he  would  call  upon  them  to 
come  to  his  assistance.  When  at  last  he 
cried  that  fortune  and  the  God  of  War 
were  on  his  side,  Bourrienne,  aghast, 
whispered,  "  You  do  not  know  what  you 
are  saying!"  and  the  General's  friends, 
dismayed,  hurried  him  out  of  the  Hall. 
The  impression  left  in  history  by  this  extra- 
ordinary scene  is  that  the  conspiracy  was 
absolutely  unable  to  formulate  any  definite 
reason  for  intervention.  There  was  no 
real  need  for  the  coup  d'etat;  it  had  no 
excuse,  no  basis  but  the  inordinate  ambition 
of  those  who  brought  it  about.  The  Con- 
stitution might  have  been  improved  with- 
out surrendering  the  country  to  a  military 
dictatorship. 
Downstairs    the  Five   Hundred,  having 


1 64  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

taken  their  oaths,  were  awaiting  with  great 
impatience  the  explanation  of  their  exile  to 
St  Cloud,  when  Bonaparte  rushed  in,  sur- 
rounded by  his  Grenadiers.  The  whole 
assembly  rose  in  fury  at  this  outrage. 
Indignant  cries  resounded  through  the 
Chamber  :  "  Put  him  out ! "  "  It  is  a  breach 
of  the  law!"  " Armed  men  cannot  enter 
here ! "  Some  upbraided  Bonaparte  per- 
sonally ;  some  took  him  by  the  collar 
and  shook  him.  The  story  that  daggers 
were  drawn  upon  him,  and  his  life 
threatened,  are  entirely  unsupported  by 
the  evidence  of  eye-witnesses.  At  length, 
overborne  by  this  hostile  reception,  the 
General  turned  pale,  and,  fainting  in  his 
soldiers'  arms,  was  carried  out  of  the  Hall. 
The  situation  seemed  desperate,  but  it 
was  saved  by  Lucien  Bonaparte,  the 
President,  who  at  once  left  the  chair  and 
with  eager  eloquence  laboured  hard  to 
defend  his  brother.  They  would  have  im- 
peached and  outlawed  the  General,  but 
Lucien,  resuming  his  functions,  refused  to 
put  the  question ;  it  was  renewed  with 
increased  vehemence,  when  the  President 
tore  off  his  insignia,  and  resigning  his  post, 


SOVEREIGN  POWER         165 

left  the  Hall,  aided  by  a  squad  of  Grena- 
diers, opportunely  sent  by  Bonaparte.  An 
appeal  to  force  was  still  delayed,  how- 
ever, for  the  bulk  of  the  troops  were  the 
bodyguard  of  the  legislative  bodies,  and 
full  reliance  was  not  placed  in  them  till 
Lucien,  whom  they  knew  well  as  President, 
mounting  a  horse,  harangued  them.  The 
Council  needed  protection ;  it  was  tyran- 
nised over,  he  said,  by  armed  traitors  paid 
by  England.  The  soldiers  responded  with 
cries  of  "  Vive  Bonaparte ! "  and  Murat 
asked  for  permission  to  clear  out  the  Hall 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  It  was  all 
but  empty  when,  with  drums  beating,  the 
Grenadiers  charged  in,  and  soon  the  last 
Republican,  the  last  vestige  of  liberty,  had 
disappeared.  France  was  handed  over  tied 
and  bound  to  LBonaparte,  who,  no  doubt, 
had  laid  the  foundations  of  his  coming  as- 
cendency ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  was 
entirely  the  architect  of  his  own  fortunes, 
or  that  he  crowned  the  edifice  for  himself. 

The  victory  was  easily  gained.  The  true 
story  of  it  has  just  been  told,  although 
Napoleon  afterwards  in  the  zenith  of  his 
power  liked  to  believe  that  it  had  been  all 


1 66         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

his  own  work,  that  all  parties  had  looked 
to  him,  and  that  he  had  held  the  issues 
entirely  in  his  own  hand.  It  is  at  least 
certain  that  Paris  and  all  France  acquiesced 
readily  in  his  advent  to  power.  They  had 
had  enough  of  revolution,  of  the  rise  and 
fall  of  masters,  none  of  whom  had  the 
strength  and  prestige  of  this  young  con- 
queror. Bonaparte  had  thus  numberless 
friends  and  no  enemies.  He  had  never  been 
involved  in  the  political  strife  of  the  times  ; 
during  his  long  absences  in  Italy  and  Egypt 
parties  wore  themselves  out,  and  the  succes- 
sion fell  to  him  without  the  animosities  that 
must  have  followed  overthrow.  Everyone 
now  surrendered  readily  to  his  dictatorship, 
hardly  realising  what  it  meant,  perhaps,  but 
glad  to  accept  a  ruler  who  promised  peace 
and  strong  government.  There  were  to  be 
no  more  factions,  no  Jacobins,  no  terrorists, 
no  half-and-half  men ;  the  Eevolution  was 
over,  having  accomplished  its  work. 

As  to  the  Government,  Bonaparte  took 
it  in  hand  with  the  vigour  and  breadth 
of  view  that  characterised  this  born  ruler 
of  men.  He  set  himself  to  reorganise  the 
State  machinery,  calling  in  to  his  assistance 


INSTALLATION    OF    THE    COUNCIL    OF    STATE 
{From  the  Picture  by  A.  Couder  in  the  Versailles  Gallery) 


SOVEREIGN  POWER         169 

the  best  brains  and  the  most  expert 
intelligence  of  France.  His  coadjutor 
Consuls  were  Cambaceres  and  Lebrun — 
the  first  a  great  lawyer  who  had  compiled 
codes  for  all  Governments ;  the  second, 
Lebrun,  a  skilled  administrator  and  sur- 
vivor of  the  old  regime.  Sieves  would  not 
accept  the  subordinate  rdle  offered  him,  for 
Bonaparte,  in  his  manipulation  of  Sieves' 
draft  Constitution,  had  adroitly  drawn  all 
executive  power  into  his  own  hands,  leaving 
his  junior  Consuls  mere  ciphers. 

Gaudin,  an  especially  competent  financier, 
was  set  to  reorganise  the  Treasury,  and 
enlightened  measures,  promptly  introduced, 
soon  restored  public  credit.  Laplace,  the 
great  mathematician,  became  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  but  soon  resigned  his  functions 
into  the  hands  of  Lucien  Bonaparte  ;  Talley- 
rand controlled  foreign  affairs  ;  Fouche,  the 
police.  Abrail  took  law  and  justice,  For- 
feit the  Navy,  and  Berthier  the  Ministry  of 
War.  Places  were  found  in  the  new  Senate, 
the  Council  of  State,  or  the  higher  adminis- 
tration, for  Cabanis,  Monge,  Berthollet, 
Volney,  Daunou,  Benjamin  Constant, 
Chenier,  J.  B.  Say,  Riouffe,  and  many  more, 


170         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

embracing  all  shades  of  opinion.  The  co- 
conspirators in  the  18th  Brumaire  were  not 
forgotten :  Eoederer,  St  Jean  d'Angely, 
Boulay  de  la  Meurthe,  Real,  Berlier,  and 
Regnier;  ex-Royalists  such  as  Devaisnes, 
Dufresne,  Defermon ;  eminent  specialists 
like  Gantheaume,  Chaptal,  Fourcroy ;  men 
of  his  own  cloth,  and  devoted  adherents  like 
Brune  and  Marmont. 

But  this  great  man  was  not  above  the 
pettiness  of  revenge.  He  had  not  the 
magnanimity  to  forget  and  forgive.  His 
hand  fell  heavily  upon  his  opponents  in  the 
Councils  of  the  18th  Brumaire,  and  the 
citizens  who  had  dared  defend  the  Republic 
were  proscribed  and  deported  to  Cayenne. 
General  Jourdan  was  at  first  included  in 
the  list,  but  then  withdrawn  in  view  of 
public  disfavour,  only  faintly  expressed, 
however.  Massena's  adhesion  had  been 
given  in,  but  not  too  readily,  and  he  was 
repaid  by  removal  from  the  army  with  which 
he  had  subjugated  Switzerland  to  the  com- 
mand of  that  of  Italy,  an  inferior  role  with 
troops  that  were  devoted  to  Bonaparte. 
For  Kleber,  whose  letters  of  warning  and 
complaint  to  the  Directory  had  now  fallen 


NAPOLEON     FIRST   CONSUL 
{By  Boilly) 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  173 

into  the  hands  of  the  man  against  whom 
they  were  directed,  Bonaparte  planned  a 
more  insidious  blow.  While  openly  lavish  of 
encomiums  and  encouragement,  he  secretly 
hoped  to  lead  Kleber  on  to  evacuate  Egypt, 
an  act  for  which,  when  accomplished,  he 
meant  to  bring  him  to  a  court-martial  on 
his  return.  But  the  assassin's  knife  put 
Kleber  beyond  the  reach  of  Bonaparte's 
tender  mercies,  and  no  penalty  over- 
took Menou,  who  actually  carried  out  the 
surrender. 

Moreau  remained  a  great  and  dangerous 
rival  in  the  field  where  Bonaparte  was  most 
eager  to  triumph.  For  the  civil  administrator 
was  swallowed  up  in  the  soldier.  War  was 
Bonaparte's  trade  :  he  ruled  France  with  the 
sword,  "  booted  and  spurred,"  to  use  his  own 
expression  ;  his  government  was  essentially 
military,  and  military  glory  was  not  only 
his  dearest  dream,  but  he  relied  upon  new 
victories  to  cover  up  and  gild  his  dictator- 
ship. To  renew  the  war  while  contriving 
that  it  should  seem  to  be  forced  upon  him 
was  the  essence  of  his  diplomacy,  and  war 
became  inevitable  when  England  and  Austria 
rejected    his   overtures.      Throughout    the 


174         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

coup  d'etat  preparations  had  been  in  pro- 
gress. The  civil  war  in  La  Vendee  had  been 
stamped  out  harshly  and  with  a  notable 
breach  of  faith  ;  money,  or  rather  the  want 
of  it,  was  still  the  chief  difficulty,  and  the 
better  methods  of  finance  being  slow  in 
realising  cash,  Bonaparte  raised  it  as  he 
had  done  in  his  first  Italian  campaign,  by 
enforced  contributions  from  subject  cities 
and  states.  Genoa  was  the  first  taxed ; 
Holland  was  next  mulcted  in  a  heavy  sum  ; 
Hamburg  was  told  it  might  buy  off  cession 
to  France  by  paying  a  large  fine ;  efforts 
were  made  to  squeeze  more  money  out  of 
Switzerland  and  Portugal. 

At  the  outbreak  of  war  in  1800,  Austria, 
the  only  antagonist — for  England's  opera- 
tions were  all  naval — had  two  armies  in  the 
field.  One,  under  Kray,  with  120,000  men, 
faced  Moreau  on  the  Ehine ;  the  other,  in 
Piedmont,  threatening  Genoa,  Nice  and 
Southern  France,  commanded  by  Melas, 
and  numbering  117,000.  Against  the  latter 
Massena  had  only  20,000,  but  Moreau's 
army  was  110,000,  as  that  entrusted  with 
by  far  the  most  important  operations, 
whether  offensive  or  defensive,  and  holding 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  175 

a  position  vital  to  both  sides  ;  the  best  line 
of  attack,  the  shortest  and  most  direct  route 
to  the  enemy's  capital,  "the  principal  ob- 
jective," as  it  is  called  in  military  science. 
These,  the  truest  strategical  considerations, 
pointed  naturally  to  the  employment  of 
Moreau,  reinforced  by  every  available  man, 
to  operate  against  Kray's  left,  turn  it,  and 
penetrate  by  Ulm  and  Munich  to  Vienna. 
Success  by  this  line  would  neutralise  Melas 
in  Piedmont,  and  probably  cut  him  off  alto- 
gether, as  he  was  such  a  long  way  from 
home. 

With  his  unerring  instinct  for  war,  Bona- 
parte saw  this,  of  course,  and  he  wished  to 
command  the  Army  of  the  Rhine  in  person. 
But  he  did  not  dare  supersede  Moreau,  and 
Moreau  distinctly  refused  to  serve  under 
him.  Yet  he  had  no  notion  of  allowing  this 
great  rival  to  win  victories,  and  possibly 
overshadow  him  by  earning  great  laurels  on 
his  own  account.  He  devised  another  plan 
of  campaign,  therefore,  less  perfect  in  theory, 
but  in  practice,  under  his  masterly  treatment, 
leading  to  little  less  triumphant  results. 

The  possession  of  Switzerland  was  a  great 
strategical  advantage  to  France.     It  was  a 


176         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

strong  outlier  thrust  forward  into  the 
enemy's  country,  and  would  serve  to  cover 
Moreau's  right  flank  in  any  movement 
toward  the  Danube,  or  as  a  place  of  arms 
and  advanced  base  in  a  campaign  against 
the  Austrians  in  Italy.  This  advantage 
entered  into  Bonaparte's  plan,  and  helped 
him  greatly  in  the  scheme  which  he  now 
devised,  and  for  which,  indeed,  anticipating 
the  reasons  against  his  presence  on  the 
Rhine,  he  had  been  secretly  preparing.  He 
had  a  third  army,  the  very  existence  of 
which  he  had  concealed,  ready  to  launch 
against  Melas  at  a  given  moment :  the  Army 
of  Reserve,  as  it  was  called,  collected  at 
Dijon,  unknown  to  Europe,  or  despised  and 
derided  as  a  mere  fiction.  Yet  it  was 
already  sixty  thousand  strong  ;  in  part,  good 
seasoned  troops,  the  rest  conscripts  and  new 
levies,  of  whose  immaturity  the  most  was 
made.  Berthier  nominally  commanded  this 
army,  but  its  real  leader  was  the  First 
Consul,  and  its  mission  was  to  descend  by 
the  Swiss  passes  into  Italy,  and  fall  upon 
the  flank  and  rear  of  Melas,  who  would  be 
taken  in  reverse,  while  Massena  occupied 
him  in  front.     Moreau's  rdle  was  to  make  a 


SOVEREIGN  POWER  177 

strong  diversion  by  attacking  Kray,  and 
cutting  him  off  from  Italy.  For  this  latter 
purpose,  moreover,  Moreau  was  also  to 
detach  25,000  men  under  Lecourbe  to  guard 
the  passes.  Moreau  was  forbidden  to 
advance  beyond  Ulm,  and  this,  with  the 
detachment  of  Lecourbe,  effectually  pre- 
vented him  from  doing  great  things. 

Moreau,  despite  his  limitations  and  the 
scantiness  of  his  supplies  in  animals  and 
stores,  the  bulk  of  which  were  diverted  to 
the  still  phantom  Army  of  Reserve,  scored 
a  brilliant  success.  He  won  five  battles  in 
fifteen  days,  and  drove  Kray  before  him 
with  a  loss  of  30,000  men ;  then  carrying 
out  his  instructions  to  the  letter,  like  the 
good,  straightforward  soldier  that  he  was, 
he  halted  short  of  Ulm  as  he  was  ordered. 
A  further  advance  would  have  carried  the 
entrenched  camp  at  Ulm,  and,  anticipating 
the  victory  at  Hohenlinden,  have  ensured 
the  fall  of  Vienna.  Yet,  now,  in  the  full 
flush  of  triumph,  with  noble  self-abnegation 
he  deprived  himself  of  a  fourth  of  his  army, 
as  agreed,  and  sent  them  to  the  St  Gothard 
under  Moncey  and  Lecourbe. 

The  story  of  Marengo  has  been  told  and 

M 


178         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

retold.     The  startling  surprise  of  an  army- 
dropping  from  the  snows  of  the  Alps  upon 
an  unprepared  foe,  who   neither  expected 
nor  believed  in  its  existence ;  the  capture 
of  Milan,  a  dramatic  coup  de  theatre ;  the 
strange  battle  that  was  actually  lost  and 
yet  was  wron.     The  campaign   is   not   one 
that  redounds  to  Bonaparte's  credit.     The 
happy  daring  that  carried  the  army  across 
the  great  St  Bernard  was  nearly  wasted  by 
one  small  check — that  offered  by  the  fort  of 
Bard  ;  the  advantage  gained  by  the  direction 
and  promptitude  of  the  advance  was  lost  by 
the  failure  to  strike  Melas  before  he  could 
gather  together  his  scattered  army,  and  the 
decision  to  first  secure  Milan.     This  appeal 
to    the    gallery    sacrificed    Massena,    who, 
starved  out  and  left  to  his  fate,  surrendered 
at  Genoa,  where  he  had  kept  20,000  men  at 
bay.     Bonaparte  could  not  regain  the  ad- 
vantage he  had  lost.     While  he  paused  at 
Milan,  the  enemy  concentrated,  unknown  to 
him,  for  it  is  a  fact  that  up  to  the  day  before 
Marengo  he  was  in  the  dark  as  to  the  move- 
ments  of  Melas.     Moreover,  he   held  too 
much   ground ;   his   front,    extending   from 
Cremona  on  the  left,  through  Milan  to  Arona 


BONAPARTE    URGING    ON    HIS    MEN    IN   THEIR   PASSAGE 
OVER    THE    ALPS 

{From  the  Picture  by  David  in  the  I  'ersailles  Gallery) 


SOVEREIGN  POWER         181 

on  the  right,  was  too  wide,  and  demanded 
so  many  troops  that  he  was  weaker  than 
Melas  at  the  decisive  point.  So  when  the 
Austrian  General  resolved  to  break  through, 
and,  starting  from  Alessandria,  recover  his 
communications  through  Piacenza  with  the 
east,  his  attacks  upon  Victor  and  Lannes, 
although  long  courageously  repelled,  were 
in  the  end  successful.  Victor,  on  the  left, 
was  routed ;  Lannes,  on  the  right,  in  full 
retreat.  Melas  had  actually  gone  back  to 
Alessandria  to  send  off  despatches  an- 
nouncing the  victory  when  it  was  snatched 
from  the  Austrians — not  by  Bonaparte,  but 
by  Desaix. 

Desaix,  who  did  not  survive  the  day,  but 
who  would  surely  have  become  one  of  the 
first  of  Napoleon's  Marshals,  had  only  just 
ioined  and  received  a  command.  His 
division  had  been  detached  towards  Novi 
to  feel  for  the  enemy,  when  the  sounds  of 
battle  reached  him,  and,  like  a  true  soldier, 
he  worked  to  the  guns.  He  reached  a  point 
where  he  came  upon  the  flying  French,  but, 
not  despairing,  he  sought  to  turn  fortune 
by  a  desperate  cavalry  charge.  He  was 
killed  at  the  first  onset ;  the  enemy  stood 


1 82         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

firm,  but  Kellermann's  dragoons  took  them 
in  flank,  and  with  a  second  tempestuous 
charge  carried  all  before  them.  This  success 
encouraged  the  rest  to  rally.  The  French, 
taking  heart,  resumed  the  offensive ;  the 
Austrians  fell  back  in  their  turn,  and  speedily 
retreated  in  a  panic.  Thus  a  charge  of 
cavalry  delivered  at  the  right  moment  saved 
Bonaparte  from  irreparable  disaster.  -  In  no 
battle  was  his  military  genius  seen,  to,. less 
r^advantage  than  at  Marengo.  Yet  in  none 
— did  lit!  I'W&p  more  substantial  results.  Had 
he  failed,  too,  his  nascent  fortunes  would 
have  suffered  complete  eclipse.  His  family 
would  have  been  proscribed  ;  the  adventurer 
would  have  ''fallen,  like  Lucifer,  never  to 
rise  again." 


,v^v 


CHAPTER  VI 

FROM   CONSULATE   TO    CROWN — 1800-1804 


has  been  well  said  that 
the  Consulate  was  "the 
period  of  Bonaparte's 
greatest  and  most  endur- 
ing renown."  He  had 
achieved  his  position  ;  his 
marvellous  strength  and 
ability,  his  audacity  and  astuteness,  favoured 
by  his  great  good  luck,  had  carried  him  to 
supreme  power.  He  seemed  eager  now  to 
show  his  gratitude  to  France  for  the  prize 
she  had  suffered  him  to  win.  The  country 
had  accepted  him  gladly  ;  it  had  need  of 
him,  of  the  strong  hand  to  reorganise  her 

183 


1 84  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

institutions  and  build  up  the  Government 
anew.  The  head  was  wanting,  the  place  of 
master  vacant ;  there  must  soon  have  been 
a  monarchical  restoration  had  not  Bonaparte 
stepped  in.  That  he  was  autocratic,  wield- 
ing unquestioned  authority,  was  all  in  his 
favour,  and  made,  as  it  seemed,  for  France. 
No  one  but  a  dictator  could  do  what  was 
so  urgently  required.  Everything  had  gone 
by  the  board  :  the  Revolution,  essentially 
destructive,  had  left  chaos,  there  had  been 
a  clean  sweep,  and  it  was  for  the  new  ruler 
to  reconstruct  in  every  department  of  State, 
administrative,  legal,  educational,  financial. 
He  had  soon  full  leisure  to  devote  all  his 
energies  to  internal  affairs.  The  peace  of 
Luneville  in  1801  was  followed  by  that  of 
Amiens  the  next  year.  Austria  had  sheathed 
the  sword  after  Marengo,  and  later,  England 
came  to  terms.  Bonaparte,  as  general 
pacificator,  had  a  claim  to  the  goodwill 
of  all  at  home  and  abroad.  France  was 
especially  pleased.  No  longer  proscribed 
and  hated  as  the  apostle  of  change,  she  once 
more  took  her  place  in  the  comity  of  nations, 
and  had  Bonaparte  been  content  with  peace- 
ful progress,  he  might  have  placed  her  on 


BONAPARTE,    FIRST    CONSUL 
{Drawn  by  L.  David) 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN   187 

the  very  pinnacle  of  a  more  enduring  great- 
ness than  that  gained  by  his  short-lived 
military  triumphs.  This  marvellous  country, 
then  as  since,  needed  only  a  little  assured 
quiet  to  blossom  out  and  burgeon  into 
prosperity.  Trade  quickened  instantly  with 
the  revival  of  credit  under  a  strong,  secure 
Government.  There  was  once  more  a  free 
circulation  of  money,  fetes  and  festivities 
were  frequent,  work  plentiful,  all  classes 
of  shopkeepers  sold  their  goods  freely, 
especially  those  that  purveyed  for  the  wants 
of  fashionable  society.  In  the  first  winter 
of  the  Consular  regime  there  were  ten 
thousand  balls  and  five  or  six  thousand 
dinner-parties  given  in  Paris.  The  Govern- 
ment took  the  lead  with  frequent  entertain- , 
ments.  Bonaparte,  as  First  Consul,  dined 
two  hundred  guests  every  ten  days  in  the 
great  Gallery  of  Diana  in  the  Tuileries. 
Cambaceres,  the  Second  Consul,  a  noted 
gourmet  and  good  liver,  kept  up  great  state 
in  a  big  house  in  the  Rue  de  Provence  ;  the 
Third  Consul,  Lebrun,  also  received  twice 
weekly.  Bonaparte's  favourite  Generals 
were  encouraged,  nay,  ordered  to  marry 
and   set  up   fine   establishments.     Lannes, 


188         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Marmont,  Junot,  and  a  dozen  more  were 
provided  with  pretty  wives,  who  formed  the 
personal  Court  of  Josephine.  Not  strangely, 
the  silk-mercers,  costumiers,  hair-dressers, 
perfumers,  and  the  rest  were  kept  constantly 
busy.  It  was  the  First  Consul's  most 
anxious  care  to  stimulate  native  manu- 
factures. Through  him  the  silks  and  the 
embroideries  of  Lyons,  the  laces  and 
cambrics  of  Valenciennes  and  Brussels,  the 
cottons  of  Eouen,  the  muslins  of  St  Quentin, 
the  gloves  and  fans  of  Paris,  became  famous 
all  the  world  over. 

Although  in  society  Bonaparte  took  the 
lead  as  became  the  Chief  of  the  State, 
setting  the  example  of  liberal  hospitality, 
his  private  life  was  still  on  a  modest  scale. 
The  Consular  Court,  "  not  quite  a  Court, 
but  no  longer  a  camp,"  as  a  well-bred 
diplomatist  styled  it,  was  long  organised  on 
very  simple  lines.  There  were  as  yet  no 
great  functionaries,  no  ladies-in-waiting ; 
aides-de-camp,  ushers,  and  maitres  d'hdtel 
sufficed  for  the  small  ceremonial  maintained. 
On  great  occasions  no  expense  was  spared, 
but  a  rigid  and  exact  economy  controlled 
his  home ;    Bonaparte  took  Duroc  to  task 


V)  (i  i  urn  a  vts -^$  vn  it  i  ( nO"  o\\  s  g.  ( , 

yy/7  //'/■///    /'///■!     'A///.*     //     /"///7W///    ff///r\t    /s/  //■//.  f    t/f  //r/ys/r 


,,/■/, -M.y~, 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  191 

sharply  about  the  totals  of  the  house-books, 
and  watched  every  item.  He  valued  money, 
partly  from  inherited  Italian  thriftiness, 
still  more  because  he  had  once  felt  the 
bitter  sting  of  poverty.  In  this  respect 
Josephine  was  his  exact  opposite,  and  his 
despair.  She  was  a  reckless  spendthrift, 
fair  game  for  everyone,  robbed  on  all  sides, 
taking  no  account  of  cost,  and  always 
heavily  in  debt.  There  is  a  well-known 
story  of  Napoleon's  detection  of  a  deficit  in 
his  wife's  budget,  and  setting  Duroc  to  find 
out  how  much  she  owed.  The  amount  was 
£24,000,  whereupon  the  Emperor  gave  a 
cheque  for  £40,000  to  pay  all  in  full,  but 
ordered  that  certain  tradespeople  who  had 
encouraged  Josephine's  extravagance  should 
be  forbidden  "to  enter  the  palace.  His 
control  of  all  expenditure,  public  and 
private,  was  of  the  most  minute  and 
searching  character.  He  was  most  severe 
with  contractors  whose  estimates  were  too 
high ;  he  insisted  on  renewing  the  velvet 
and  cloth  tapestries  of  his  palaces  with  stuff 
and  cotton,  "  which  will  wear  better  " ;  he 
brought  an  action  against  the  dyer  who 
gave  a  bad  colour  to  the  hangings  for  St 


192         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Cloud.  No  wonder  that  Louis  XVIII.,  on 
returning  to  the  Tuileries  and  finding  all  in 
such  apple-pie  order,  should  have  exclaimed, 
"  He  was  a  good  tenant — this  Napoleon  !  " 
In  his  own  personal  expenses  the  most 
rigid  economy  was  observed.  He  laid  down 
the  number  of  coats — five  of  uniform,  two 
for  hunting — to  be  ordered  for  him  every 
three  years,  and  their  price.  His  wardrobe 
contained  four  dozen  flannel  waistcoats— of 
which  he  wore  one  a  week — four  dozen 
pocket-handkerchiefs — and  he  allowed  him- 
self twelve  weekly ;  every  item  of  wash- 
ing, cleaning,  the  provision  of  shoes,  silk 
stockings,  perfume,  was  exactly  calculated, 
with  the  plain  warning  that  nothing  should 
be  bought  without  His  Majesty's  approval. 

With  all  this  estimable  parsimony,  he 
was  lavishly  generous  in  his  gifts.  He  set 
up  his  favourites  in  housekeeping  with  large 
presents  in  cash ;  gave  Junot  a  residence 
and  £4000  for  furniture ;  paid  Lasalle's 
debts  over  and  over  again.  Davoust  had 
two  millions  from  him.  Certainly,  in  all 
this  he  was  dealing  with  other  people's 
money,  of  which  he  was  called  to  render  no 
account. 


JOSEPHINE 
{From  a  Miniature  by  Isaby) 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  195 

A  not  unpleasing  picture  has  been  pre- 
served of  the  inner  life  of  the  Bonapartes 
in  these  early  days.  No  state  was  kept 
up  at  the  Tuileries,  as  has  been  said  ;  still, 
there  was  more  formality  than  at  Mal- 
maison,  Josephine's  country  seat  and  a  very 
favourite  residence.  Visitors  at  the  Tui- 
leries were  only  introduced  at  stated  hours. 
Duroc  or  Rapp  was  in  attendance.  When 
Madame  Junot  was  first  presented  she 
found  a  small  family  party :  Josephine  at 
her  tapestry  (she  was  indefatigable  with 
her  needle,  and  made  all  the  furniture- 
covers  for  Malmaison),  the  First  Consul 
with  his  hands  behind  him  and  his  back  to 
the  fire,  Eugene  and  Hortense  Beauharnais 
also  in  the  room.  Meneval,  when  about 
to  take  up  the  post  of  private  secretary, 
was  received  by  Josephine  with  charming 
affability  and  kept  to  dinner.  Bonaparte 
was  equally  kind  when  he  came  in ;  the 
dinner  lasted  only  twenty  minutes,  and 
the  small  party  then  adjourned  to  the 
drawing-room,  where,  after  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  talk,  the  First  Consul  slipped  away. 
Nothing  could  be  more  modest  than  the 
meal,  more  simple  than  Bonaparte's  fare. 


1 96         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

A  couple  of  dishes,  a  little  Chambertin 
diluted  with  water,  and  a  single  cup  of 
coffee,  plain  poached  eggs,  salad  of  white 
beans,  polenta,  Parmesan  cheese.  When 
he  was  Emperor  and  in  the  field,  he  regu- 
lated the  table  of  the  Headquarters'  Staff  : 
"  Soup,  bouilli,  a  roast  joint,  and  salad — no 
dessert." 

At  Malmaison  the  life  was  that  of  any 
well-to-do  bourgeois  family  in  the  country. 
The  house  was  simply  furnished,  the  com- 
pany small,  and  everyone  came  and  went 
as  he  or  she  pleased.  The  ladies  break- 
fasted together  alone  at  11  a.m.  The  First 
Consul  never  showed  till  dinner-time ;  he 
spent  the  whole  day  in  his  study,  which 
communicated  with  a  small  private  garden, 
where  he  could  walk  while  still  dictating  or 
discussing  affairs.  Dinner  was  at  6  p.m., 
and  in  the  long  evenings  he  would  waste 
an  hour  in  playing  games  or  running 
about  like  a  boy.  Air  and  exercise  were 
necessary  to  him,  and  if  kept  from  his 
garden  by  rain  or  other  cause  he  chafed 
and  showed  ill-temper  at  dinner :  when 
the  weather  was  fine  and  warm  the  table 
was    laid    on    the    lawn.      Indoors,    after 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  197 

dinner,  he  talked  freely,  often  rudely,  and 
was  fond  of  joking  with  his  old  comrades 
about  early  indiscretions,  especially  if  their 
wives  were  present.  He  liked  to  tell 
stories — ghost  stories — and  had  the  Italian 
gift  of  improvisation.  He  retired  to  bed 
early,  and  was  often  read  to  sleep  by 
Josephine,  who  had  a  soft  voice  and  read 
well. 

Weekly,  on  Wednesdays,  there  was  a 
grand  dinner  at  Malmaison ;  the  guests 
carefully  selected  officials  and  their  wives, 
the  ladies  always  of  unspotted  reputation. 
Bonaparte  assumed  great  outward  austerity 
as  regards  morals.;  he  sought  to  revive 
respect  for  domestic  virtue  and  to  restore 
the  tone  of  society.  After  these  great 
dinners  there  were  amateur  theatricals. 
The  performers  were  found  among  the 
staff  and  habitues  of  the  house.  Bour- 
rienne  was  the  best  actor  in  the  company — 
even  the  professionals  complimented  him ; 
Madame  Murat  Bonaparte,  at  that  time 
very  beautiful,  often  played  well  but  spoke 
with  a  bad  accent ;  Hortense  Beauharnais 
was  an  excellent  actress ;  her  brother 
Eugene  also ;  and  Madame  Junot,  General 


198         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Junot  and  General  Lauriston.  The  First 
Consul  chose  the  plays,  and,  as  the  company 
improved,  made  them  play  ambitious  pieces 
such  as  The  Barber  of  Seville,  and  Regnard's 
Lovers  Follies.  Bonaparte  was  a  great 
patron  of  the  stage,  a  constant  attendant 
at  the  Paris  theatres,  and  on  friendly  terms 
with  Talma  and  the  chief  actors  of  the 
day.  These  were  the  relaxations  of  a 
hard-worked  public  man,  and  the  First 
Consul  was  in  this  respect  the  most  remark- 
able the  world  has  ever  seen.  His  powers 
of  work  were  phenomenal  and  almost  in- 
credible. He  wore  out  everyone,  states- 
men, senators,  secretaries ;  presided  at 
special  meetings  from  10  p.m.  to  5  a.m., 
kept  Councillors  of  State  by  his  desk  from 
9  a.m.  till  5  p.m.  Sometimes  an  exhausted 
official  fell  asleep,  and  the  First  Consul 
would  rouse  him,  reminding  him  that  it  was 
only  two  in  the  morning,  and  that  they 
must  earn  their  pay.  He  could  continue 
for  thirteen  hours  at  a  stretch  without  a 
sign  of  fatigue,  constantly  varying  the 
subjects  he  dealt  with ;  the  new  one, 
however  momentous,  did  not  occupy  him 
to  the  exclusion  of  the   old,  to  which   he 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  199 

returned  as  though  he  had  never  dropped 
it.  According  to  his  own  description,  his 
knowledge  was  stored  away  in  his  brain? 
as  in  drawers,  which  he  could  open  or  shut 
at  will.  "  I  am  always  at  work,"  he  said 
of  himself,  "all  the  time,  at  dinner,  in  the 
theatre.  I  wake  up  at  night  in  order  to 
resume  work."  And  when  he  woke  like 
this,  after  barely  an  hour's  sleep,  his  head 
was  as  clear  as  if  he  had  slept  all  night. 
These  were  the  occasions  when  some  new 
project  had  arisen  in  his  mind,  when  some 
plan  had  matured  there  and  was  ready  for 
execution.  Sometimes  he  would  not  have 
his  secretaries  aroused,  but  prepared  work 
for  them,  noting  and  minuting  papers  in  his 
own  hand ;  at  other  times  he  would  tell 
Meneval,  "  Come  at  one,  or  at  four  in  the 
morning  ;  we  will  work  together,"  and  he 
would  turn  out  punctually  in  his  white 
dressing-gown,  with  a  coloured  silk  hand- 
kerchief round  his  head  and  snuff-box  in 
hand.  At  such  times  his  ideas  developed 
as  he  dictated  with  abundance  and  extra- 
ordinary clearness ;  he  spoke  so  fast  that 
he  was  a  terror  to  his  secretaries,  all  of 
whom  (and   he  could   keep   three   or  four 


2oo         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

busy  at  once)   had  invented   a   species   of 
shorthand  of  their  own. 

Napoleon's  extraordinarily  retentive 
memory  for  detail  is  a  well-known  quality 
in  his  marvellous  understanding.  He  had 
every  fact  bearing  upon  the  intricate  busi- 
ness of  government  put  by  in  his  brain, 
but  immediately  available  when  required. 
He  could  deal  with  any  subject  with  fuller 
knowledge  than  the  official  particularly 
charged  with  it.  He  could  put  his  Ministers 
right  and  correct  his  clerks.  In  military 
matters  he  was  most  marvellous :  knew 
the  exact  position  of  his  armies,  even  when 
they  were  operating  all  over  Europe,  their 
numbers,  personnel  and  materiel,  men,  ani- 
mals, guns,  stores,  he  had  everything  by 
heart ;  also  the  names  of  generals  and 
other  officials,  their  posts  and  regiments, 
the  tonnage  and  armament  of  his  ships  of 
war;  he  remembered  " country,"  facts  of 
topography  and  distances,  calculations  made 
for  marches,  months  and  months  ahead. 
He  foresaw  everything  :  anticipated  what 
would  happen,  plainly  predicted  results, 
the  positions  he  would  occupy  on  a  certain 
day,  the  battles  he  would  win.     He  was  an 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  201 

expert  in  every  department  of  war,  "the 
best  soldier  in  his  army  "  ;  an  artilleryman, 
a  staff  officer,  administrator,  financier,  and, 
above  all,  the  supreme  commander,  directing 
the  most  extensive  operations.  What  that 
meant  we  shall  realise  better  when  we  see 
him  as  the  god  of  battles. 

In  these  earlier  years  of  the  Consulate 
Bonaparte's  labours  were  chiefly  in  civil 
administration.  The  Constitution  of  Bru- 
maire  had  given  him  unlimited  powers, 
and  he  turned  them  to  excellent  use.  The 
institutions  he  gave  France  really  govern 
the  country  to  this  day.  The  creation  of 
the  Bank  of  France  was  one  of  the  first. 
Revival  of  national  credit  followed  it  ;  this 
and  the  greater  regularity  in  taxation  soon 
replenished  the  exchequer.  The  reform  of 
the  judicial  system  stands  next  in  order, 
a  reform  which  consisted  in  placing  the 
patronage  of  all  seats  on  the  Bench  un- 
reservedly in  the  hands  of  the  First  Consul. 
The  power  thus  assured  was  carried  still 
farther  by  the  scheme  of  local  government, 
the  establishment  of  prefects,  sub-prefects 
and  mayors,  a  whole  hierarchy  of  officials, 
who,  whether   in   department,   arrondisse- 


202  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

ment,  or  commune,  represented  and  mul- 
tiplied the  central  authority  throughout 
France  ;  a  system  borrowed  from  the  an- 
cient arbitrary  regime  which  nevertheless 
still  obtains.  The  chief  and  most  useful 
measure  was,  no  doubt,  the  codification  of 
the  laws  from  which  resulted  the  various 
codes — civil,  commercial  and  penal — that 
under  the  generic  title  of  the  Code  Napoleon 
are  still  the  standard  of  conduct,  not  in 
France  alone,  but  in  Italy,  Holland,  Belgium 
and  Germany.  Bonaparte  was  proud  of  the 
codes,  and  always  pretended  to  have  created 
them,  although  other  capable  men  laboured 
hard  to  perfect  them  in  studies  that  ex- 
tended over  several  years.  France  also 
owes  the  national  system  of  education  to 
the  consular  epoch,  the  perfect  machinery 
of  instruction,  the  three  learned  degrees — 
primary,  secondary  and  superior — through 
which  all  students  graduate  under  regula- 
tions framed  and  controlled  by  the  central 
governmental  authority. 

The  reconciliation  of  France  with  the 
Catholic  Church  was  Bonaparte's  doing.  It 
came  from  mixed  motives,  chief  among 
them  his  desire  to  detach  the  Pope  from 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  203 

the  coalition  of  sovereigns,  yet  more  to  win 
the  French  priesthood  from  the  Royalist 
cause.  Bourrienne  credits  his  master  with 
religious  sentiment,  preserving  a  story  that 
Bonaparte  was  greatly  moved  by  the  sound 
of  church  bells,  and  felt  there  must  be  a 
religion  for  the  people.  "  Religion  is  useful 
to  government;  those  who  govern  should 
use  it  to  influence  mankind.  .  .  .  For  this 
some  will  call  me  a  Papist.  I  am  no  such 
thing.  I  am  no  believer  in  creed.  I  was  a 
Mohammedan  in  Egypt,  I  am  a  Catholic  in 
France.  I  do  not  believe  in  religion.  But 
the  idea  of  a  God!"  Then  came  the  oft- 
repeated  famous  speech:  "Who  made  all 
that  if  there  is  no  God  ?  "  And  as  he  spoke 
he  raised  his  hand  to  the  star-lit  heaven. 
He  had  been  brought  up  a  good  Catholic, 
and  so  strong  was  early  teaching  that  all 
through  his  life  he  crossed  himself  involun- 
tarily at  any  sudden  crisis. 

The  Concordat  was  signed  and  promul- 
gated with  great  pomp  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame  in  the  presence  of  many 
who  still  disbelieved.  Augereau,  it  is  said, 
swore  to  himself  all  through  the  mass ; 
Lannes    protested    against     entering    the 


2o4         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

church ;  Delmas,  a  Jacobin  General,  when 
asked  what  he  thought  of  it,  said  the  only 
thing  to  complete  the  show  was  the  attend- 
ance of  the  million  men  who  had  been  slain 
in  pulling  down  what  was  now  re-erected. 
Bonaparte  himself  described  the  Concordat 
as  the  vaccination  of  religion:  "In  fifty 
years  there  will  be  more  religion  than 
smallpox  in  France."  Yet  it  served  a  great 
political  purpose  by  securing  the  priests. 
One  of  the  conditions  of  signature  was  that 
the  priests,  in  taking  the  oath  of  fidelity 
to  the  State,  should  swear  to  reveal  any 
plots  against  it  that  should  come  to  their 
knowledge. 

The  Dictator  was  by  no  means  secure 
upon  the  seat  he  had  seized.  He  was 
surrounded  with  bitter  foes  :  Republicans 
and  Royalists,  however  antagonistic,  were 
yet  ready  to  make  common  cause  against 
him.  Plots  and  conspiracies  were  soon 
afoot,  with  the  set  purpose,  more  or  less 
boldly  conceived,  of  compassing  the  death  of 
the  First  Consul.  There  was  the  affair  of 
Chevalier,  who  contrived  a  clumsy  machine 
which  he  could  not  complete  for  want  of 
funds;    the    conspiracy    of  the   Corsicans, 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  205 

Ceracchi  and  Arnea,  who  were  to  stab 
Bonaparte  on  the  steps  of  the  Opera  House, 
a  miserable  business,  promptly  betrayed  by 
one  of  the  conspirators  and  easily  controlled. 
These  attempts  were  attributed  to  a  gang 
known  as  the  Enrages,  the  refuse  of  Revo- 
lutionary days  —  poor,  penniless  irrecon- 
cilables,  who  wished  to  emulate  the  success 
of  the  great  adventurer  and  put  themselves 
in  his  place. 

A  much  more  serious  matter  was  the 
explosion  of  the  infernal  machine  in  the 
Rue  St  Nicaise.  This  attempt  narrowly 
missed  complete  success.  It  was  admirably 
planned  by  resolute  men,  the  Royalists  of 
La  Vendee,  who  were  amply  provided  with 
funds,  and  could  command  the  services  of 
devoted  agents.  The  prime  movers  were 
St  Regent,  who  had  been  a  naval  officer, 
and  Limoelan,  who  had  fought  in  La 
Vendee  ;  they  were  both  in  direct  com- 
munication with  the  emigrant  Princes 
in  England.  St  Regent  improved  upon 
Chevalier's  plan,  and  contrived  a  better 
machine,  a  barrel  filled  with  powder,  shot 
and  hand-grenades,  to  which  was  attached 
a  slow  match.    A  careful  calculation  was 


206  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

made  of  the  time  Bonaparte's  carriage 
would  take  to  cover  the  distance  between 
the  Tuileries  and  the  Rue  St  Nicaise,  and 
the  match  lighted  accordingly.  But  the 
coachman  drove  faster  than  usual ;  more, 
he  turned  aside  at  seeing  the  barrel  on  its 
cart,  and  got  past  before  the  explosion, 
which  killed  many  lives,  but  spared  the 
First  Consul. 

Although  not  wanting  in  personal  courage, 
Bonaparte  was  greatly  upset  by  these  dan- 
gers. The  penalties  of  promotion  to  high 
place  were  made  plainly  apparent,  and  the 
implacable  enmity  of  those  who  resented  it. 
His  reprisals  were  sharp,  yet  they  were 
wrongly  directed.  Fouche's  police  soon 
tracked  down  the  real  culprits,  and  proved 
the  Royalist  origin  of  the  plot.  It  suited 
Bonaparte  to  punish  the  Jacobins,  who  were 
really  blameless  in  this  affair.  He  feared 
them  most  of  all  his  foes,  and  he  made  this 
last  attempt  an  excuse  for  crushing  the 
party.  A  hundred  and  thirty  persons,  whom 
he  knew  to  be  entirely  innocent,  were  pro- 
scribed and  sent  to  perish  in  the  pestilential 
swamps  of  Cayenne. 

The  last  blow  aimed  at  his  uncrowned 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  207 

sovereignty  was  in  the  celebrated  conspiracy 
of  Georges  and  Pichegru,  a  movement  really 
controlled  and  directed  by  the  man  who  was 
to  have  been  its  victim.  We  have  now 
abundant  proof  that  Bonaparte  was  pos- 
sessed from  the  very  first  of  accurate  news 
of  the  proposed  plot.  It  was,  no  doubt, 
originated  in  London,  where  a  consular  spy, 
Mehee  de  la  Touche,  who  served  both  sides, 
persuaded  the  British  Government  and  the 
exiled  Princes  that  Bonaparte  must  fall 
before  a  Republican  and  Royalist  combi- 
nation. Every  step  taken  was,  however, 
reported  to  Paris.  The  First  Consul  knew 
what  to  expect  and  how  to  meet  it.  "I 
never  ran  any  real  danger,"  he  wrote  his 
representative  in  Milan,  M.  de  Melzi ;  "my 
police  had  its  eye  on  all  their  machinations." 
The  plot,  indeed,  promised  to  serve  his 
hidden  purpose  ;  it  might  be  made  to  involve 
Moreau,  whom  he  detested  not  merely  as 
his  military  rival,  but  as  his  probable  heir 
if  he  fell  from  power.  Through  it  he  might 
strike  a  shrewd  blow  at  Bourbon  pretensions 
and  ascend  the  throne  himself.  Overtures 
had  been  made  to  Moreau  by  the  con- 
spirators ;     he    was    the    most    prominent 


208  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

member  of  the  expiring  independent  party 
in  France.  But  he  did  not  fall  in  with  the 
proposals.  Bonaparte's  police  have  admitted 
that  he  remained  a  staunch  Republican, 
who  despised  the  Bourbons  and  had  no 
sympathy  with  La  Vendee.  Indeed,  the 
Concordat  and  the  creation  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour  had  drawn  him  to  the  Consulate. 
The  closest  watch  upon  him  could  not  prove 
him  guilty  of  evil  intentions.  Many  traps 
were  laid  for  him  without  success.  In  the 
same  way  ample  rope  was  given  the  real 
conspirators,  who  spent  months  in  Paris, 
their  presence,  seemingly,  unsuspected,  al- 
though such  neglect  must  have  been  wilful 
in  a  police  so  penetrating  as  is  that  of  Paris. 
As  an  actual  fact,  their  arrival  was  fully 
known ;  their  every  movement  closely 
watched  and  duly  reported  to  the  First 
Consul;  "but  there  need  be  no  hurry  to 
arrest  them,,,  was  his  reply.  The  plot  would 
then  have  terminated,  and  with  it  all  the 
possibilities  that  were  expected ;  not  the 
least  of  them  being  the  hope  to  convict 
England  of  complicity  through  her  repre- 
sentatives abroad.  Many  minor  arrests  were 
made,   however,   as   the  days  passed ;   the 


36RK 


'•  36  RK 


ROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  209 

risons  of  Paris  were  filled  with  subaltern 
gents,  but  the  great  counterstroke  still 
irried.  Pichegru  had  come  over — and 
1-eorges  ;  the  method  of  attack  was  known  : 
0  secret  assassination,  but  an  open  conflict 
nth  Bonaparte  surrounded  by  his  guards, 
ind  yet  no  strong  measures  were  taken, 
>r  Moreau  was  not  yet  compromised ;  the 
Winces,  one  or  more,  who  were  expected  to 
ead  the  movement,  still  hesitated  to  leave 
leir  comfortable  English  shelter. 

Moreau  had,  in  fact,  refused  to  join  in  the 
onspiracy.     It  was  so  stated  explicitly  in 

confession  extracted  from  one  of  the 
risoners,  who  declared  that  the  plot  must 
tierefore  fail.  Yet  upon  this  confession 
loreau  was  arrested.  So  weak  was  the 
vidence  against  him  that  it  was  thought 
rise  to  suspend  the  law  of  trial  by  jury,  or 
0  convictions  would  have  been  possible, 
[ow,  too,  Pichegru  and  Georges  were  taken 
-as  they  might  have  been  long  before — 
nd  both  freely  admitted  that  they  meant 
0  attack  the  First  Consul  in  the  street. 
>ut  the  great  capture  was  missed  ;  the  royal 
Vince  through  whom  Bonaparte  might 
trike  terror  into  the  Bourbons  and  warn 


210         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

them  against  any  further  attempts  at  his 
ejectment.  Upon  whom  could  he  lay  his 
heavy  hand?  Where  else  find  a  suitable 
victim?  The  answer  was  afforded  by  the 
murder  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

This  inoffensive  princelet  was  living  at 
Eltenheim,  a  few  miles  from  Strasbourg,  but 
in  the  territory  of  Baden,  where  he  gave  up 
his  days  to  sport.  At  midnight  on  March 
15,  1804,  he  was  seized  by  a  party  of 
dragoons  and  hurried  to  Paris.  Five  days 
later  he  was  arraigned  before  a  military  con- 
mission  in  the  Fort  Vincennes,  found  guilty 
on  his  own  admission  of  having  borne  arms 
against  the  Republic,  and  then  shot,  out  of 
hand. 

Great  efforts  have  been  made  to  absolve 
Napoleon  from  the  guilt  of  this  atrocious 
murder,  which  he  planned  entirely  himself. 
It  has  been  pretended  that  the  Duke  was 
mistaken  for  a  mysterious  person,  the  much- 
looked-for  Prince  who  never  came  to  Paris, 
whose  description  was  accurately  known, 
and  was  entirely  different  from  the  victim's, 
while  it  was  clearly  shown  on  another 
occasion  to  be  Pichegru  himself.  Savary, 
the  chief  agent  in  the  affair,  said  afterwards 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  211 

that  the  First  Consul  was  horrified  at  the 
haste  displayed,  and  declared  that  the 
sentence  of  the  court  should  have  been 
suspended  until  the  prisoner  had  been 
interrogated  by  a  judge.  No  such  subter- 
fuges can  be  accepted  now,  even  if  they 
ever  imposed  on  the  credulous.  There  was 
no  accident  or  confusion,  no  hurry  or  mistake 
in  the  tragedy  of  Vincennes.  Everything 
had  been  deliberately  and  minutely  prepared 
in  advance— the  selection  of  the  jailer,  a 
confidential  person  no  other  than  Harel, 
who  had  betrayed  the  Corsican  conspiracy 
in  1800;  the  substitution  of  a  military  for 
the  ordinary  civil  tribunal,  of  devoted 
soldiers  blindly  obeying  their  mandate  to 
convict  after  no  proper  form  of  trial,  the 
approval  of  the  death  sentence,  which  was 
signed  in  advance  on  a  blank  sheet.  The 
very  grave  in  the  moat  was  already  dug 
when  the  hapless  youth  passed  the  gates  of 
the  fortress. 

Napoleon's  apologists  declare  that  he  was 
greatly  grieved  and  agitated  when  this 
cowardly  crime  was  being  perpetrated. 
Meneval  describes  the  family  party  at 
Malmaison,    and    the    gloom    that    over- 


212         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

shadowed  all — Josephine  with  moist  eyes, 
the  suite  whispering  privately  together  in 
a  distant  gallery,  Bonaparte  silent  and 
absorbed,  vainly  seeking  to  read  a  book. 
Others  say  that  he  roamed  alone  through 
the  woods  for  hours,  terribly  depressed  and 
disturbed.  Thiers,  in  his  History,  declares 
that  during  the  week  he  hardly  did  any 
business  or  dictated  a  single  letter.  Yet 
this  at  least  is  an  error,  for  an  examination 
of  his  correspondence  shows  he  dictated 
twenty-seven  big,  voluminous,  and  minute 
despatches  between  March  15  and  the  23rd, 
and  on  the  20th,  the  very  day  he  was  most 
distressed,  he  sent  off  seven.  So  little  was 
he  really  affected  that  he  wrote  his  brother 
Joseph,  "  I  cannot  repent  of  my  decision.  .  .  . 
This  was  the  only  means  I  had  of  leaving 
no  doubt  as  to  my  intentions,  and  of 
annihilating  the  hopes  of  the  partisans  of 
the  Bourbons.  .  .  .  I  shall  never  be  tranquil 
on  the  throne  while  the  Bourbons  exist,  and 
this  Bourbon  is  one  the  less.  .  .  .  If  what 
I  have  done  were  still  to  be  done,  I  would 
do  it  again,  and  if  I  had  a  favourable 
opportunity  I  would  get  rid  of  the  rest." 
All  Europe  was  shocked  by  this  murder, 


FROM  CONSULATE  TO  CROWN  213 

the  infamy  of  which  still  remains  as  the 
darkest  stain  upon  the  character  of  Napo- 
leon. If  the  crime  passed  uncriticised  at 
home,  it  was  because  public  opinion  could 
find  no  voice  in  France,  gagged  by  the  new 
despotism. 

Bonaparte  now  resolved  to  assume  the 
purple  of  irresponsible  power,  as  the  best 
weapon  against  fresh  attacks  from  within 
and  without.  He  was  already  Consul  for 
life,  and  he  now  took  the  title  of  Emperor, 
a  military  rank  in  its  origin,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  master  of  many  legions,  who 
was  so  soon  to  use  them  for  his  aggrandise- 
ment and  the  consolidation  of  his  empire.  A 
subservient  Senate  with  but  one  dissentient 
voice,  Carnot's,  laid  the  crown  at  his  feet 
on  May  18,  1804,  but  his  Imperial  Majesty, 
having  deigned  to  accept  it,  postponed  formal 
coronation  until  he  had  humbled  England. 


CHAPTER   VII 

BOULOGNE   AND    AUSTERLITZ— 1804-1805 


EN  are  fond  of  toys,  and 
are  led  by  them."  So 
Napoleon  answered 
to  those  who  op- 
posed the  institution 
of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  and  spoke 
slightingly  of  it  as  an  empty  bauble.  He 
was  inordinately  fond  of  such  toys  him- 
self, and  played  with  them  to  his  hearts 
content  to  swell  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  his  brand-new  Empire.  It  is 
almost  pitiable   to   read   the   long   list    of 

great    offices    created    by  this   degenerate 

214 


jk  r 


I 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  215 

Kepublican,  this  parvenu  promoted  so  soon 
to  such  dizzy  heights  of  grandeur ;  to  note 
the  infinite  pains  he  took  to  organise  the 
ceremonial  of  his  Court.     For  himself  he 
became  the    "  brother "   of  Emperors   and 
"  cousin  "  of  Kings  ;  his  letters  ended  with 
a  formula  copied  from  the  correspondence 
of  the  Grand  Monarque.     He  invented  the 
most   sonorous,    but   often  grotesque    and 
absurd,    titles    for  his   family,   his   friends 
and  supporters.     His  former  colleagues  in 
the  Consulate  became  Arch- Chancellor  and 
Arch-Treasurer,  with  the  address  of  Most 
Serene    Highness ;     one    brother,    Joseph, 
became    Grand    Elector ;    another,    Louis, 
Grand   Constable ;   the   sisters  were   Prin- 
cesses ;  on  Madame  Letitia  the  highest  yet 
the  simplest  of  all  titles  was  conferred — 
that  of  Madame  Mere.     What  higher  rank 
could  woman  have  than  that  of  the  Mother 
of  Caesar?     Numerous   high    functionaries 
were  appointed  to  maintain  the  dignity  of 
the  Imperial  regime :    Grand  Chamberlain, 
Grand    Almoner,    Grand    Marshal,    Grand 
Master  of  the  Ceremonies  ;  a  host  of  lesser 
officials  also,  such  as  pages,  maids-of-honour, 
ladies-in-waiting  and  of  the  palace.     M.  de 


216         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Remusat,  one  of  the  old  noblesse,  was  called 
in  to  assist  with  his  advice  on  ceremonials, 
but  Napoleon  saw  to  every  detail,  the 
costumes  and  uniforms,  the  breadth  of 
embroideries,  the  shape  of  hats,  the  length 
of  the  ladies'  elaborate  trains.  He  devised 
his  own  coronation  robes  and  the  whole 
programme  for  that  important  ceremony,  to 
sanction  which  the  Holy  Father,  not  without 
protest  and  misgiving,  was  brought  in  per- 
son from  Rome.  But  Napoleon  would  only 
be  crowned  by  his  own  hands ;  he  cried 
solemnly,  as  he  put  the  crown  on  his  head, 
"  God  has  given  it  to  me ;  woe  to  him  who 
dares  to  touch  it ! " 

The  army,  of  course,  his  most  favourite 
plaything,  although  certainly  no  toy,  was 
not  overlooked  in  the  distribution  of  new 
dignities.  He  surrounded  his  throne  with 
his  best  soldiers,  raised  to  the  highest  rank 
he  could  utilise  to  do  them  honour.  There 
had  been  Marshals  of  France  in  times  past, 
and  it  was  natural  they  should  be  revived 
in  a  regime  based  upon  his  strong  arm  and 
military  prestige.  Not  only  was  he  pleased 
to  reward  his  old  companions-in-arms,  the 
lieutenants,  who  had  served  him  or  France — 


{From  an  Engraving  after  the  Picture  by  F.  Gerard) 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  219 

and  the  first  creation  of  marshals  included 
Murat,  Berthier,  Massena,  Lannes,  Soult, 
Brune,  Ney,  Augereau,  Moncey,  Mortier, 
Davoust,  Jourdan,  Bernadotte  also,  thanks 
to  his  brother-in-law,  although  not  free 
from  the  taint  of  friendship  with  Moreau — 
but  four  honorary  marshals  were  made  in 
the  persons  of  Kellermann  (the  elder), 
Perignon,  Lefebvre  and  Serrurier.  Only  the 
Army  of  the  Rhine,  Moreau' s  army,  was 
entirely  unrepresented. 

From  the  moment  of  his  accession  to 
power,  Napoleon  had  found  his  chief  plea- 
sure in  perfecting  the  great  manslaying 
machine  he  was  soon  to  direct  with  such 
incomparable  skill.  He  loved  his  fortnightly 
reviews  on  the  Carrousel  or  great  courtyard 
of  the  Tuileries  ;  and  held  one  the  very  day 
of  his  installation  as  First  Consul.  The 
spectacle  was  splendid.  Troops  of  all  arms 
— horse,  foot  and  guns,  conscripts  and  vete- 
rans— stood  there  side  by  side,  so  that  the 
one  might  take  example  by  the  other,  and 
the  martial  spirit  be  raised  to  the  highest 
pitch.  Every  regiment  in  the.  service  came 
to  Paris  in  turn,  in  order  to  appear  at 
these  parades.     The  First  Consul  arrived 


2  2o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

with  a  numerous  and  brilliant  staff  in  new 
and  resplendent  uniforms  ;  he  was  attended 
by  the  War  Minister,  the  Governor  of  Paris, 
the  General  commanding  the  First  Division, 
the  Commissary  General,  all  the  great  officers 
concerned  in  the  military  administration. 
Sometimes  he  rode  down  the  line  on  his 
favourite  grey  Arab  Le  Desire ;  more  often 
he  dismounted  and  made  a  most  minute  and 
lengthened  inspection,  lasting  five  or  six 
hours.  He  talked  freely  with  all  ranks, 
both  officers  and  men,  encouraging  the  latter 
to  speak,  to  put  forward  their  grievances. 
"  Conceal  nothing  from  me,  suppress  no 
complaints  of  your  superiors.  I  am  here  to 
do  justice  to  all,  and  the  weakest  is  best 
entitled  to  my  protection."  He  questioned 
them  individually  on  their  campaigns,  on 
the  scars  they  showed ;  he  recognised  and 
rewarded  those  who  had  served  with  him, 
often  corrected  injustice  and  seeming  slight 
by  giving  immediate  promotion,  or  the 
coveted  cross  from  his  own  breast.  The 
pains  he  took  to  be  au  fait  with  all  details 
were  immense. 

It  was  by  such  acts  as  these,  honourable 
and  natural  enough  in  a  great  commander, 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  221 

that  he  reached  the  hearts  of  his  troops 
and  won  their  unstinting  devotion,  to  an 
extent  that  perhaps  no  other  leader  has 
inspired.  They  learned  to  believe  in  him  as 
a  god,  to  cry  with  honest  Junot,  "  This  man 
is  a  supernatural  being."  In  later  years  he 
was  less  assiduous,  but  the  fascination  sur- 
vived. It  was  a  legacy  left  by  thousands  of 
brave  souls  who  had  perished  in  his  service, 
and  the  tradition  was  maintained  by  thou- 
sands more  as  ready  to  give  him  their  lives. 
But  the  enthusiasm  was  at  its  highest  point 
when  he  reached  the  apogee  of  his  power. 
The  weapon  that  France  had  fashioned,  first 
for  self-defence  and  then  blindly  made  over 
to  the  man  who  had  enslaved  her,  was  so 
set  and  sharpened  by  him  that  it  was  now 
fit  for  any  fight.  It  was  too  much  to  expect 
that  this  great  captain  and  condottiere,  the 
absolute  soldier  of  fortune,  should  forbear 
to  use  it.  Already  indeed,  and  before  he 
became  Emperor,  he  was  looking  around 
like  Alexander  and  preparing  to  conquer 
the  world. 

The  treaty  of  Amiens  had  been  almost  a 
farce ;  its  provisions  were  observed  by  neither 
side.     England  had  not  surrendered  Malta, 


222         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

although  Bonaparte  declared  he  would 
rather  see  her  in  the  heart  of  Paris.  France 
annexed  new  territories.  George  III.  called 
the  peace  experimental,  and  the  First  Consul 
considered  it  no  more  than  a  short  armistice. 
There  was  continual  strife  and  bickering 
between  the  two  countries.  A  newspaper 
war  raged  in  which  the  Free  Press  of  England 
showed  much  irritating  license  in  lampooning 
Bonaparte.  The  old  rivalry  between  England 
and  France  was  more  bitter  than  ever.  The 
rupture  came  abruptly,  and  after  an  un- 
seemly scene  with  the  British  Ambassador, 
in  which,  however,  the  great  Corsican  actor 
only  played  a  part  for  the  express  purpose 
of  hastening  the  crisis.  Yet  the  first  reck- 
less steps  taken  by  the  First  Consul  showed 
deep  irritation  :  contrary  to  the  custom  of 
civilised  nations,  he  detained  all  British 
subjects  he  could  catch  in  France,  even 
tourists  and  non-combatants  ;  he  laid  hands 
on  the  sacred  persons  of  the  diplomatic 
body  ;  he  seized  Hanover,  the  appanage  of 
the  English  Kings,  and,  at  the  risk  of  a 
permanent  quarrel  with  Prussia,  established 
himself  in  the  heart  of  Germany ;  he  pro- 
claimed the  commercial  blockade  which  was 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  223 

to  close  Europe  to  English-made  goods,  and 
nearly  brought  ruin  to  all  Continental  trade. 

The  duel  with  England  was  to  be  to  the 
death,  and,  indeed,  it  was  not  ended  till 
Napoleon  fell  after  Waterloo.  He  entered 
upon  it  with  all  the  eagerness  of  one  who 
counted  confidently  upon  success.  He  was 
but  imperfectly  informed  of  the  strength 
and  character  of  the  nation  he  challenged ; 
to  the  last  he  never  fully  realised  the 
measure  of  our  naval  power,  nor  of  the 
probable  resistance  he  might  expect  from 
a  sturdy  race  defending  hearth  and  home. 
So  little  did  he  know  of  England  that  he 
believed  a  first  victory  on  its  soil  would 
rally  to  him  all  who  hated  "  oligarchic 
government,"  although,  as  Lanfrey  puts  it, 
he  would  not  have  attracted  a  single  beggar- 
man  in  the  street. 

No  doubt  he  was  supported  in  this  by 
other  opinions.  Years  back,  when  named 
by  the  Directory  to  the  command  of  the 
"Army  of  England,"  Moreau  had  written 
him  (March  27,  1798):  "There  are  few 
Frenchmen  who  have  not  been  desirous  of 
an  invasion  of  England,  and  there  are  few 
who  do  not  feel  confident  of  the  success 


224  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  the  expedition  since  you  have  taken 
command  of  it."  In  France  the  project, 
when  openly  announced  in  1803,  was  hailed 
with  delight.  "The  idea  of  a  conquest  of 
England  fired  the  general  imagination," 
Madame  de  Eemusat  wrote.  She  went 
with  the  imperial  party  in  the  progress  to 
Brussels,  and  saw  at  Amiens  the  triumphal 
arch  inscribed  "The  Road  to  England." 
His  naval  officers  alone  doubted,  and  at 
first  essayed,  but  vainly,  to  point  out  the 
hazardous  nature  of  the  enterprise.  They 
were  alive  to  the  incompleteness  and  in- 
efficiency of  the  French  navy,  the  meagre 
character  of  French  marine  resources  ;  they 
knew  better  the  strength  of  their  enemy, 
the  marked  superiority  of  the  British  at 
sea.  "Our  masts  are  bad,  and  our  sails," 
wrote  Villeneuve  to  Decres ;  "so  is  the 
rigging,  the  officers  also,  and  the  ships' 
companies."  "Napoleon's  fleets,"  wrote 
Nelson  to  Collingwood,  "  suffer  more  damage 
in  one  night  than  ours  in  a  year,"  and, 
again  speaking  of  the  French  naval  officers 
to  the  Admiralty,  he  says,  "Those  gentle- 
men are  not  accustomed  to  the  storms 
which  we  have  defied   for  one-and-twenty 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  227 

months  without  losing  a  spar."  They  were 
well  aware  indeed  of  their  shortcomings, 
but  after  their  first  protests,  so  rudely 
received  by  their  imperious  master,  they 
lapsed  into  silence,  meaning  to  do  their 
best,  but  with  little  hope  of  a  favourable 
issue. 

It  has  been  stated  seriously  and  strongly 
that  Napoleon  was  never  really  committed 
to  the  invasion  ;  that  the  formation  of  the 
great  camp  of  Boulogne  was  no  more  than 
an  excuse  for  keeping  a  large  army  together 
and  training  it  for  more  feasible  Conti- 
nental conquests.  This  is  the  line  adopted 
by  admirers  who  cannot  otherwise  explain 
the  strangeness  of  his  general  policy  at  this 
period.  Was  it  possible  that  this  com- 
manding genius  would  dare  affront  all 
Europe,  as  he  did,  to  encourage  a  fresh 
coalition  against  him,  at  a  time  when  he 
was  about  to  lock  up  the  flower  of  his  army 
in  the  islands  beyond  the  sea — not  so  re- 
mote, of  course,  as  Egypt,  but  possibly  as 
inaccessible  ?  His  absence  from  France  in 
1799  might  be  prejudicial  to  his  cause,  but 
in  1805  it  would  spell  absolute  ruin.  Did 
he  hope  to  effect  his  purpose  with  such  ease 


228         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  despatch  that  he  might  subjugate  Eng- 
land in  a  few  weeks,  and  return  victorious 
to  face  the  European  armies  that  would 
surely  invade  France  when  the  great  army 
of  Boulogne  was  across  the  Channel  ?  In 
this  dilemma  his  eulogists  can  only  conclude 
that  the  whole  project  was  a  feint;  the 
alternative  was  to  convict  Napoleon  of  a 
want  of  ordinary  common  sense. 

Yet  there  can  be  no  sort  of  doubt  that 
he  was  thoroughly  in  earnest.  It  is  proved 
by  the  elaboration  of  means  to  the  end  in 
view  :  the  thousands  of  orders  he  issued,  the 
schemes  and  counter-schemes,  the  time  he 
spent  in  camp,  the  extent  of  his  prepara- 
tions and  their  costliness ;  and  again,  by 
his  deep  personal  anxiety  for  his  project, 
exhibited  hour  after  hour,  and  increased  in 
intensity  as  the  moment  of  fruition  ap- 
proached. Let  us  realise  Lanfrey's  picture 
of  Napoleon  on  the  cliff  at  Boulogne  waiting 
for  Villeneuve,  a  portrait  as  exact  as  a 
photograph,  and  say  whether  the  whole 
project  was  a  myth  devised  to  cajole  and 
to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  Europe.  He 
had  written  that  unhappy  admiral  on 
August  22,  1805  ;  "  This,  I  hope,  will  find 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  231 

you  at  Brest.  Hurry  on — do  not  lose 
a  moment  —  come  with  our  combined 
squadrons,  and  England  is  ours."  "Now," 
says  that  historian,  "  he  watched  the  horizon 
incessantly,  passing  through  all  the  harrow- 
ing emotions  of  hope  and  fear,  of  uncer- 
tainty— most  difficult  of  all  to  bear.  For 
months  all  had  been  prepared,  in  Boulogne 
and  in  the  neighbouring  ports.  The  monster 
flotilla  waited  only  the  signal ;  day  after 
day  the  army  went  through  their  embarka- 
tion drill,"  nothing  was  wanting  but  Ville- 
neuve,  and  he  never  came. 

There  was  no  make-believe  in  all  this. 
We  might  doubt  the  military  preparations, 
which  would  and  did  serve  for  the  campaign 
of  Austerlitz,  but  the  naval  must  have  been 
intended  exclusively  for  invasion.  The 
vast  sums  spent  upon  the  flat-bottomed 
boats  that  were  to  serve  as  bridges ;  the 
great  efforts  made  to  manufacture  them 
in  every  shipbuilding  yard  of  the  French 
coasts — these  surely  were  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  invasion.  The  feverish  haste 
with  which  the  navy  was  strengthened 
when  the  first  idea  of  an  unprotected 
flotilla  was  improved  into  the  joint  action 


232         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  fleet  and  transports ;  the  recruitment  of 
the  navy  by  the  press-gang ;  and  the  con- 
tingents forcibly  raised  in  independent 
maritime  states  —  there  was  no  pretence 
about  these.  In  a  despatch  to  Marshal 
Brune  in  July  1804,  he  writes  :  "I  have  at 
my  disposal  120,000  men  and  3000  launches  ; 
we  only  await  a  favourable  wind  to  plant 
the  Imperial  Eagle  on  the  Tower  of  London. 
Time  and  Destiny  alone  know  what  will 
happen"  —  language,  surely,  that  implied 
a  set  purpose,  for  there  was  no  reason  to 
deceive  Brune.  Again,  the  express  orders 
sent  to  the  Admirals,  Bruix,  Decres,  Gan- 
theaume,  Villeneuve,  the  exact  combina- 
tions and  movements  of  their  squadrons, 
and  the  great  results  he  looked  for,  would 
hardly  have  been  the  work  of  imagination, 
even  in  this  colossal  deceiver. 

Many  smaller  matters  plainly  endorse 
this  view  :  the  selection  of  daring  privateer 
captains  to  harry  the  English  coast  and 
seize  fishermen  and  hobblers  who  could 
give  information  of  the  harbours  between 
the  Thames  and  Portsmouth  ;  the  creation 
of  a  body  of  interpreter-guides ;  the  en- 
listment  of  discontented   Irishmen  into  a 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  233 

foreign  legion.  The  troops  were  trained  to 
row,  and  made  to  work  at  the  oar  two 
hours  daily ;  a  poetaster  was  commissioned 
to  compose  a  song,  "  Le  Chant  du  Depart," 
to  be  sung  in  camp ;  and  prizes  were 
offered  to  soldiers  who  would  venture  out 
on  yard-arms  ;  the  theatres  were  to  produce 
plays  such  as  William  the  Conqueror,  to 
stimulate  public  feeling.  Perhaps  the  most 
positive  fact  of  all  was  the  medal  struck 
beforehand,  which  was  to  be  issued  in 
London  after  the  conquest,  a  rare  objet 
oVart,  but  still  to  be  seen  in  some  collections. 
On  one  face  is  the  Emperor's  head,  laurel- 
crowned ;  on  the  other,  "Descente  en 
Angleterre.  Frappee  a  Londres,  1804." 
This  triumph  by  anticipation  has  yet  to  be 
accomplished,  although  England  and  its 
people  should  not  count  too  surely  upon 
the  causes  that  guaranteed  her  safety  then. 
Steam  has  greatly  altered  the  conditions  of 
naval  warfare,  and  there  is  nothing  nowa- 
days impossible  in  Napoleon's  boast  that  if 
he  were  master  of  the  Channel  for  six 
hours  England  would  cease  to  exist.  He 
looked  for  the  happy  concurrence  of  natural 
allies — night,  fogs,  heavy  weather  in  order 


234         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

to  pass  his  flotilla  over — advantages  "he 
must  be  mad  to  expect/'  as  Nelson  said,  but 
their  assistance  would  not  be  necessary  now. 

On  the  23rd  August  1805  he  still  hoped ; 
two  days  later  he  resolved  to  abandon  the 
projected  invasion;  and  on  the  27th  the 
march  from  Boulogne  upon  Austria  was 
begun.  He  was  checked  ingloriously  in 
one  direction,  but  by  prompt  action  in 
another  he  might  escape  ridicule,  and  he 
had  very  strong  cards  to  play.  The  project 
of  invasion  had  put  into  his  hands  a  perfect 
army,  the  best  in  Europe,  held  compactly 
together  and  readily  available  for  war.  It 
is  asserted,  as  has  been  said,  that  this 
alternative  of  springing  without  warning 
upon  his  Continental  foes  had  been  always 
a  second  string  to  his  bow.  A  shrewd  blow 
might  thus  be  struck  at  one  before  the 
second  should  join  her.  Austria  lay  ex- 
posed, with  forces,  as  usual,  widely  scattered, 
while  her  ally,  Russia,  was  miles  in  distance, 
months  in  time,  to  the  rear. 

Whatever  mistake  and  misapprehension 
may  have  falsified  Napoleon's  plan  of 
invasion,  in  the  military  operations  that 
succeeded  that  abortive  attempt  he  was  at 


THE   EMPRESS   JOSEPHINE 
{From  the  Portrait  by  Gerard  in  the  Versailles  Gallery) 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERL1TZ  237 

his  best.  He  was  at  last  in  a  situation  he 
could  control,  engaged  in  his  own  trade. 
As  he  himself  said,  he  was  never  so  happy 
as  in  the  field.  No  wonder,  for  he  was  a 
past  master  in  the  art  of  war,  and  he  played 
that  most  chanceful  and  exciting  game  with 
uncommon  skill.  The  conditions  at  the 
outset  of  the  campaign  of  Austerlitz  were, 
no  doubt,  greatly  in  his  favour,  but  yet  he 
made  the  most  of  them.  His  strategy  was 
bold  yet  unerring,  following  the  soundest 
principles,  and  practised  with  extraordinary 
promptitude  and  decision,  as  will  be  seen. 

Austria  meant  to  take  the  offensive  in 
due  course,  and  had  two  armies  in  the  field. 
The  strongest,  100,000  men,  was  in  Italy, 
under  the  Archduke  Charles,  opposed  to 
Massena,  but  far  outnumbering  him  ;  the 
other,  under  Mack,  76,000,  was  on  the  Inn, 
covering  Vienna,  but  intended  to  advance 
through  Swabia  when  reinforced  by  the 
Russians.  Napoleon's  plan  was  to  hold 
Massena  to  the  defensive,  occupying  the 
Archduke  Charles,  while  the  army  of 
Boulogne,  transferred  secretly  and  rapidly 
into  Central  Europe,  struck  through  Mack 
straight  at  Vienna,      Its  movement  was 


238         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

concealed  by  every  possible  means.  Every 
artifice  was  used  to  protract  negotiations 
until  it  had  completed  its  long  march,  and 
twenty-six  days  after  leaving  the  sea-coast 
it  arrived  on  the  Ehine.  Speed  was  of  the 
utmost  importance.  Napoleon  intended  to 
fight  with  the  legs,  not  the  arms,  of  his 
troops.  All  the  passages  of  this  great  river 
were  in  French  hands,  and  Napoleon  crossed 
at  Mayence,  Spire  and  Mannheim.  Now 
Bernadotte,  coming  from  Hanover,  reached 
Wurzburg;  and  Marmont,  coming  from  Hol- 
land, had  joined  the  Grand  Army,  as  it 
was  called  for  the  first  time  by  its  imperial 
leader,  who  organised  it  into  seven  army 
corps,  each  composed  of  two  or  three 
infantry  divisions,  a  brigade  of  cavalry,  and 
a  small  proportion  of  artillery. 

The  1st  corps  was  commanded  by  Ber- 
nadotte, the  2nd  by  Marmont.  the  3rd 
by  Davoust ;  Soult  had  the  4th,  Lannes 
the  5th,  Ney  the  6th,  Augereau  the  7th. 
Murat  commanded  the  corps  of  cavalry. 
The  Imperial  Guard,  under  the  immediate 
orders  of  the  Emperor,  was  in  reserve,  and 
a  Bavarian  army  of  25,000  was  soon  de- 
tached from  the  Coalition  to  throw  in  its 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERL1TZ  241 

lot  with  the  French.  The  total  of  the 
Grand  Army  amounted  to  upwards  of 
200,000  men. 

Meantime  Mack,  going  to  his  fate,  had 
advanced  from  the  Inn  and  occupied  Ulm 
from  September  18.  He  was  quite  ignorant 
of  the  near  approach  of  the  French,  and  as 
late  as  October  8,  complacently  reported 
that  his  army  could  not  be  better  or  more 
effectually  posted.  Already,  by  this  date, 
Napoleon's  forces  were  closing  round  him 
in  greatly  superior  numbers,  having  already 
cut  his  communications  with  his  base.  For 
on  October  6,  hearing  that  French  detach- 
ments had  appeared  in  Bavaria,  Mack  sent 
General  Kienmayer  towards  Ingoldstadt  to 
hold  the  bridges  over  the  Danube.  But 
there  three  whole  corps — those  of  Davoust, 
Marmont  and  Bernadotte — fell  upon  Kien- 
mayer, and  drove  him  back  in  confusion 
upon  Munich.  The  complete  occupation 
of  Bavaria  followed ;  the  French  armies 
were  in  force  on  both  banks  of  the  Danube, 
and  Ulm  was  enclosed. 

Napoleon's  headquarters  were  at  Donau- 
worth  on  the  7th,  and  he  was  quite  master 
of  the  situation.      "  The   enemy   must   be 


242  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

quick,  if  he  would  escape  complete  destruc- 
tion," were  the  significant  words  of  his 
order  of  the  day.  Mack  met  the  danger  by 
reversing  his  front.  Hitherto  he  had  faced 
west,  towards  the  Black  Forest;  now  he 
turned  his  back  on  the  Black  Forest  and 
faced  east.  The  French  were  on  that  side 
between  him  and  home.  Indeed,  every  line 
of  retreat  was  menaced  by  the  splendid 
strategy  of  his  opponent.  Napoleon  had 
made  only  one  mistake.  He  had  left  a 
loophole  of  escape  by  the  position  of 
Albeck,  on  the  left  of  the  Danube,  which 
was  insufficiently  guarded,  and  by  which 
Mack,  with  a  determined  effort,  might  have 
cut  his  way  through.  But  the  Emperor 
always  believed  Mack  would  retreat  on  the 
Tyrol,  and  Dupont  was  exposed  to  the 
whole  weight  of  the  Austrian  army.  Mack, 
using  only  one  corps,  drove  back  Dupont, 
but  made  no  further  effort  to  get  out;  and 
Napoleon  soon  sent  Ney  to  close  the  gap  by 
crossing  at  Elchingen  in  strength,  which 
brought  on  the  battle  of  that  name.  The 
Austrians  escaping  towards  Bohemia  were 
forced  to  lay  down  their  arms. 
Mack's  position  at  Ulm  was  now  desperate. 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  245 

Soult  had  crossed  the  Iller  and,  reaching 
Biberach,  cut  off  all  retreat  to  the  Tyrol ; 
Marmont  had  come  up ;  Ney  captured  the 
heights  above  Ulm,  and  the  investment  was 
completed  with  100,000  men.  Napoleon 
now  sent  an  ultimatum  to  Mack,  threatening 
to  put  the  whole  garrison  to  the  sword 
"as  he  had  done  at  Jaffa."  The  luckless 
Austrian  General  tried  to  temporise,  hoping 
still  for  support  from  the  advancing  Rus- 
sians, and  offered  to  capitulate  on  the  25th 
October  if  not  rescued  before.  But  on  the 
19th  he  learned  that  the  Russians  were  not 
yet  on  the  Inn,  and  he  laid  down  his  arms. 
Next  day,  the  debris  of  his  army,  some 
24,000,  marched  out  of  Ulm  with  the  honours 
of  war.  But  this  surrender  does  insufficient 
justice  to  the  fullness  of  Napoleon's  triumph. 
Between  the  last  days  of  August  and  the 
20th  October  he  had  marched  from  Boulogne 
to  the  Danube,  and,  at  no  great  cost,  simply 
by  masterly  combinations  and  successful 
strategy,  had  overwhelmed  the  enemy's 
forces.  The  capitulation  of  Ulm  gave  him 
60,000  prisoners,  with  eighteen  general 
officers,  eighty-four  standards,  and  1200 
guns.     Vienna  was  at  his  mercy. 


246  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Fortune  seldom  comes  with  both  hands 
full.  The  glory  of  Ulm  was  quickly  balanced 
by  the  defeat  of  Trafalgar,  the  news  of  which 
reached  him  when  he  was  marching  to  meet 
the  combined  Austrians  and  Kussians  at 
Austerlitz.  He  showed  no  outward  sign, 
says  Berthier,  who  handed  him  the  despatch. 
But  he  was  profoundly  moved,  and  he  visited 
the  whole  of  the  blame  of  a  catastrophe  for 
which  he  himself  was  entirely  responsible 
upon  the  gallant  but  luckless  Admiral  who 
had  already  failed  him  at  Boulogne.  It  was 
under  the  express  orders  of  the  Emperor 
that  Villeneuve — whom  he  loathed  and 
loaded  with  abuse  and  invective,  yet  con- 
tinued in  command — issued  from  Cadiz  to 
confront  Nelson  and  the  British  fleet.  The 
Emperor,  with  blind  infatuation,  still  refused 
to  believe  in  the  inferiority  of  his  navy ;  he 
would  not  tolerate  the  suggestions  of  a 
cautious  and  defensive  warfare.  He  sent 
positive  instructions  to  Villeneuve  to  fight ; 
to  leave  Cadiz.  "Nothing  shall  keep  them 
there ! "  he  wrote  not  many  days  after  the 
capitulation  of  Ulm.  That  he  thus  sent  his 
fleet  to  destruction  may  be  excused  as  the 
error  of  a  proud,  haughty  spirit,  but  that  he 


NAPOLEON 
{After  Chatillon) 


\ 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  249 

should  vent  his  displeasure  upon  the  brave 
officer  who  obeyed  but  could  not  succeed, 
is  another  of  the  dark  blots  upon  his 
character.  Villeneuve,  it  is  now  gravely 
asserted,  did  not  commit  suicide,  but  was 
murdered  at  Eennes  on  his  return  from 
England,  where  he  had  suffered  a  brief 
detention  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  He  was 
found  stabbed  to  the  heart ;  there  were  six 
wounds,  one  of  which  at  least  must  have 
been  inflicted  after  death.  The  dagger,  too, 
which  had  been  used  was  found  at  the 
distance  of  several  paces  from  his  body, 
where  a  dying  man  could  not  possibly  have 
thrown  it.  The  story  runs  that  he  found  at 
Rennes  a  letter  from  Decres,  the  Minister 
of  Marine,  harshly  upbraiding  him,  and  that 
he  could  not  bear  to  live.  Before  the  deed, 
he  wrote  a  noble  letter  to  his  wife,  giving 
his  reasons  for  suicide.  Yet  the  first  letter 
is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Villeneuve 
family,  and  it  is  couched  in  kindly,  affec- 
tionate terms.  The  second  letter  has  never 
been  seen.  When  Madame  de  Villeneuve 
asked  for  it,  Fouche  declared  he  had  al- 
ready sent  it  to  her,  and  that  it  must  have 
been  lost  in  the  post.     Assuredly  there  are 


250         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

grounds  for  classing  this  suicide  with  those 
of  Pichegru  and  Wright. 

It  is  pleasanter  to  turn  to  the  battlefield 
on  which  Napoleon  reigned  supreme — to  the 
great  day  of  Austerlitz,  the  finest  victory 
Napoleon  ever  won.  The  first  Russian  army 
had  now  appeared  upon  the  theatre  of  war, 
and,  in  junction  with  the  remnant  of  the 
Austrian  forces,  was  waiting  in  Moravia  to 
make  a  fresh  appeal  to  arms.  Napoleon 
was  in  a  critical  position.  The  Archduke 
Charles  was  in  Hungary  with  80,000  men  ; 
a  second  Russian  army  was  at  the  heels  of 
the  first;  Prussia,  alienated,  was  about  to 
join  in  coalition.  Napoleon  now  was  not 
unwilling  to  make  peace.  His  overtures  to 
the  Czar  had  been  badly  received.  When 
he  proposed  to  send  Savary  to  treat,  the 
Russian  Emperor  replied  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  "Chief  of  the  French  Government." 
Later,  on  the  very  eve  of  Austerlitz,  Prince 
Dolgorouki  offered  terms  on  behalf  of  the 
Czar  that  Napoleon  found  simply  insulting. 

Now  the  allied  forces,  about  90,000  men, 
were  based  upon  Olmutz.  Napoleon,  with 
70,000  men,  having  Vienna  as  an  inter- 
mediate base,  but  a  very  long  way  from 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  253 

home,  was  advancing  upon  Brunn  to  meet 
his  enemy.  Arrived  there  on  the  20th,  he 
rested  till  the  27th,  then  felt  forward  as  far 
as  Wischau  and  Austerlitz.  His  advance 
guard  having  been  driven  back  from 
Wischau,  Napoleon  was  satisfied  that  the 
enemy  were  approaching  in  force,  and  he 
fell  back  into  a  position  along  the  Goldbach, 
some  eight  miles  in  front  of  Brunn.  He 
seemed  thus  to  have  abandoned  the  still 
stronger  position  of  the  Pratzen  plateau,  at 
the  far  side  of  the  Goldbach,  which  was 
now  occupied  by  the  Kussian  and  Austrian 
armies,  but  he  did  so  advisedly  in  pursuance 
of  his  tactical  plan.  He  told  his  staff  that 
from  Pratzen  he  could  only  hope  to  win  an 
ordinary  victory  ;  his  aim  was  to  draw  the 
enemy  on  in  a  determined  effort  to  turn  his 
right,  his  most  vulnerable  flank,  attack  on 
which  would  lay  bare  his  communication 
with  Vienna.  "  With  any  such  extension 
of  their  left  they  would  be  open  to  a  terrible 
counterstroke  and  lost  beyond  redemption." 
The  night  before  the  action,  Napoleon, 
having  narrowly  escaped  capture  when 
reconnoitring,  wandered  on  foot  through 
his  camp,  was  recognised  by  the  light  of 


254         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  bivouac  fires,  and  received  with  loud 
acclamations  by  his  enthusiastic  soldiers. 
Their  bonfires  strengthened  the  enemy  in 
the  belief  that  they  were  burning  their  straw 
huts  preparatory  to  retreat.  The  attack 
was  therefore  developed  early  on  the  follow- 
ing morning,  the  2nd  December,  with  that 
extension  on  the  left  which  Napoleon  so 
eagerly  expected.  It  was  his  intention  to 
await  events  on  this  as  well  as  on  his  left 
flank,  which  was  securely  posted  under 
Murat  and  Lannes,  while  with  his  centre, 
under  Bernadotte  and  Soult,  he  made  a 
counter-attack  upon  the  Pratzen  plateau. 

These  last  began  the  battle,  and  carried  all 
before  them,  nearly  destroying  the  divisions 
on  march  to  strengthen  the  already  extended 
Russian  left.  Lannes  on  the  left  fought  an 
independent  action,  and  held  his  ground 
with  varying  fortunes  There  were  fierce 
cavalry  conflicts  nobly  contested,  but  at  last 
the  day  was  won  by  the  French.  Napoleon 
was  thus  victorious  in  his  centre  and  on 
the  left ;  but  his  right,  on  the  most  critical 
part  of  the  field,  was  being  hardly  pressed, 
and  Napoleon  brought  up  his  reserve  of 
the   Guard.     Now  came  the  critical  hour. 


ffTERVIEW   BETWEEN    NAPOLEON   AND    FRANCIS    IT.,    EMPEROR   OF 
AUSTRIA,   AFTER   THE   BATTLE   OF   AUSTERLITZ 

(From  the  Picture  by  Prudhon  in  the  Louvre) 


BOULOGNE  AND  AUSTERLITZ  257 

Bernadotte's  success  had  cut  the  allied  army 
in  two,  its  right  and  left  extremities  widely 
divided,  and  the  Russian  Guard  nobly 
essayed  to  retrieve  the  battle  by  a  furious 
attack  on  the  centre.  It  was  nearly  success- 
ful, but,  met  by  the  opportune  advance  of 
the  French  Guard,  was  presently  checked, 
and  then  overthrown  by  a  magnificent  charge 
of  the  cavalry  of  the  Guard,  under  llapp. 
Leaving  Bernadotte  to  follow  up,  Napoleon, 
gathering  in  Soult's  corps,  the  remainder 
of  his  cavalry  and  infantry,  with  his  reserve 
artillery,  hurried  off  to  deal  with  the  troops 
— a  body  of  30,000  men — so  long  engaged 
with  Davoust.  He  took  them  in  flank, 
entangled  in  the  marshes  and  narrow  roads 
about  the  Goldbach,  and  routed  them 
utterly.  They  fled,  seeking  safety  upon  the 
frozen  lake,  the  ice  of  which  gave  way 
under  the  artillery  fire,  and  all  who  escaped 
shooting  were  drowned. 

The  battle  was  ended  at  4  p.m.  Never 
was  victory  more  complete — defeat  more 
overwhelming.  The  Allies  lost  10,000 
killed,  30,000  prisoners,  46  standards, 
and  186  guns.  Napoleon's  triumph  was 
stupendous.     AusterTitz  effaced  the  memory 


258         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  the  Boulogne  fiasco,  it  counterbalanced 
Trafalgar,  it  showed  him  as  a  mighty  man 
of  war,  for  whose  career  of  coming  conquest 
no  limits  could  be  prescribed.  No  wonder 
that  William  Pitt,  who  lay  stricken  with 
mortal  sickness,  when  he  heard  of  Auster- 
litz,  sighed,  "Alas!  my  country,"  turned 
his  face  to  the  wall,  and  died. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

IMPERIAL    C/ESAR" — 1805-1809 


IVE  years  of  war  fol- 
lowed the  peace  that 
had  at  last  been 
broken  at  Austerlitz ; 
and  such  wars !  Wa rs 
waged  on  such  a  large 
scale  and  with  such  an 
abundance  of  means, 
such  enterprise  and  genius,  such  triumph- 
ant results  as  the  world  has  seldom  seen. 
War,  in  1806,  with  Prussia,  so  prompt  and 
decisive  that  in  less  than  a  month  she  was 
259 


26o  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

reduced  to  the  status  of  a  third-rate  Power, 
prostrate  and  despoiled,  partitioned  be- 
tween Saxony,  Russia,  and  the  new 
Napoleonic  kingdom  of  Westphalia.  War 
again  with  Russia,  more  creditable  to  her 
military  character,  but  little  less  disastrous 
than  that  of  1805,  and  converting  her  into 
the  humble  and  obedient  ally  of  France ; 
next  with  Spain  and  Portugal ;  the 
Peninsula  invaded  under  specious  pre- 
tences, first  occupied,  then  held  as  con- 
quered, with  shameless  breach  of  faith ; 
another  war  with  Austria,  leaving  her 
crippled,  with  the  loss  of  access  to  the  sea, 
of  three  millions  of  population  and  much 
territory,  and  compelled  to  purchase  peace 
by  the  surrender  of  a  Hapsburg  Princess 
to  the  arms  of  the  Corsican  Emperor — 
thus  seconding  his  scheme  for  divorce. 
These  are  the  years  of  his  greatest  triumph, 
of  his  unquestioned  political  ascendency,  of 
unbroken  military  successes  that  con- 
stituted him  the  greatest  general  of  that, 
or  perhaps  any,  age.  Let  us  examine 
briefly  some  of  the  chief  stages  of  this 
astonishingly  rapid  and  striking  career 
of  conquest. 


NAPOLEOX 
{By  Canoiia) 


"  IMPERIAL  (LESAR  "         263 

The  campaign  of  Jena  reproduces  that  of 
Austerlitz  in  many  particulars.  Prussia 
was  all  wrong  throughout.  She  missed  her 
best  chance  of  action,  and  declared  war 
too  late  and  too  soon.  Too  late,  because  in 
1805  she  might  have  done  Napoleon  infinite 
mischief  by  falling  on  his  flank  as  he 
advanced  into  Austria ;  too  soon  in  1806, 
because  (like  Austria)  she  did  not  wait 
for  the  arrival  of  her  Russian  allies. 
Again,  in  her  plan  of  campaign  she  resolved 
to  take  the  offensive,  when  by  holding 
the  line  first  of  the  Elbe  and  then  of  the 
Oder  she  would  have  drawn  Napoleon  on 
through  an  inhospitable  country  at  the 
worst  season  of  the  year,  and  then  con- 
fronted him,  concentrated  and  combined 
with  her  friends.  But  in  her  divided 
military  councils,  where  senility  fought 
with  presumptuous  youth,  there  was  one 
point  in  common :  that  attack  was  better 
than  defence.  Napoleon  had  always  won 
because  he  had  always  been  allowed  to  take 
the  initiative ;  to  forestall  him  would  be 
to  deprive  him  of  his  most  effective 
weapon.  Besides,  the  traditions  of  the 
Great  Frederick  still  threw  a  halo  around 


264         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  army  he  had  created  ;  it  was  still  con- 
fidently believed  that,  although  untried  for 
half  a  century,  with  slow  formal  tactics  and 
antiquated  equipment,  it  would  be  more 
than  a  match,  even  single-handed,  for  the 
brilliant  young  general,  so  admirably  sup- 
ported by  able  lieutenants  and  troops 
Hushed  with  recent  victories. 

In  October  1806  Napoleon  held  his  army 
compactly  placed  along  the  river  Maine 
behind  the  Thuringian  forest.  On  the  far 
side  were  the  Prussians  at  Erfurt,  Weimar 
and  Jena,  with  an  advance  guard  pushed 
forward  to  Saalfeld  watching  the  issues 
of  the  mountain  passes.  Napoleon  had 
seven  army  corps  with  a  cavalry  corps,  and 
the  Imperial  Guard,  in  all  about  190,000. 
The  Prussians,  under  their  aged  leader 
Brunswick,  a  veteran  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  numbered  150,000,  including  the 
troops  of  Saxony  and  Wiirtemberg. 

Both  sides  prepared  to  advance.  The 
Prussian  leaders,  after  much  discussion, 
decided  at  length  to  move  by  a  double  line 
— false  strategy  that  was  never  put  in 
practice,  for  Napoleon  burst  upon  them  like 
a  thunderbolt  while  they  hesitated,  and  the 


¥■ 


'IMPERIAL  CAESAR "         265 

war  was  ended  almost  before  it  was  begun. 
Of  the  various  lines  open  to  him  he  pre- 
ferred that  by  his  right,  the  most  direct 
road  to  Berlin,  and  thrust  his  army,  corps 
after  corps,  through  the  Thuringian  passes 
— Soult  and  Ney  to  Baireuth  and  Hof, 
Bernadotte  in  the  centre,  Davoust,  the 
cavalry,  and  the  guard  on  the  left,  moving  by 
Coburg  to  Graf  en  thai  and  Saalfeld.  The 
mere  direction  of  his  advance  threatened 
the  Prussian  communications  with  Berlin, 
and  peremptorily  ended  the  idea  of  taking 
the  offensive.  The  enemy  fell  back  at  once 
and  hastily,  now  making  for  the  line  of  the 
Elbe.  Brunswick  reached  the  Saale  on 
October  13,  prepared  to  fight  a  great  battle 
about  Kosen,  leaving  Hohenlohe  with  one 
corps  to  cover  his  retreat.  Napoleon  found 
Hohenlohe  at  Jena,  and  thinking  he  had 
the  whole  Prussian  army  in  front  of  him, 
resolved  to  attack.  Davoust,  further  down 
the  river,  on  the  extreme  French  right,  was 
ordered  to  force  a  passage  at  Kosen,  and 
co-operate  by  the  east  bank  on  the  Prus- 
sian rear.  This  brought  on  the  battle 
of  Auerstadt  on  the  14th,  when  Davoust 
with  great  gallantry   attacked    double   his 


266         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

numbers,  and  beat  Brunswick  completely. 
The  same  day  Napoleon,  being  two  to  one, 
attacked  Hohenlohe  at  Jena,  and  obtained 
a  signal  victory.  "You  cannot  imagine 
the  extent  of  this  defeat,"  Berthier  wrote 
Junot.  "It  is  like  magic,  or  to  speak  in 
the  words  of  Scripture,  the  Hand  of  the 
Lord  overthrew  them." 

A  vigorous  pursuit  followed  Jena.  The 
Prussians  had  fled  disorganised  to  the  Elbe, 
which  Davoust  crossed  at  Wittenberg,  not 
fifty  miles  from  Berlin,  on  the  20th.  All 
the  great  fortresses  fell.  Spandau  was  sur- 
prised, Berlin  entered  on  the  25th,  Stettin 
the  29th,  Ciistrin  the  31st.  On  November 
8,  Magdeburg,  with  a  garrison  of  22,000 
and  700  guns,  was  taken  by  Ney  with  half 
the  number ;  Murat,  having  forced  Hohen- 
lohe to  surrender,  galloped  into  Lubeck. 
Napoleon  was  absolutely  master  of  Prussia. 
In  one  short  month  he  had  destroyed  her 
army  in  the  field,  had  driven  the  King  from 
his  capital,  leaving  him  only  the  barren 
province  of  East  Prussia,  and  a  poor  force 
of  25,000  disheartened  troops.  The  country 
lay  crushed  and  humiliated  at  the  feet  of  her 
conqueror. 


"  IMPERIAL  CAESAR  "         267 

Napoleon  had  thus  disposed  of  one-half  of 
his  Northern  enemies.  Russia  remained, 
and  her  armies  were  now  tardily,  as  at 
Austerlitz,  advancing  towards  the  Vistula. 
They  must  be  met  and  beaten  if  Napoleon's 
supremacy  in  Europe  was  to  be  assured. 
England,  as  we  know,  remained  defiant  to 
the  last,  but  he  tried  to  fight  her  with  other 
weapons,  and  it  was  from  Berlin  that  he 
issued  those  famous  decrees  that  wrere  to 
kill  British  commerce  by  excluding  her 
goods  from  the  Continent.  This,  the  great 
I  Continental  system  "  that  failed  so  signally, 
forbade  all  trade  with  England  ;  no  English 
ship,  no  ship  coming  from  an  English  or 
colonial  port,  could  enter  a  French  port 
without  the  penalty  of  seizure  as  prize.  Even 
postal  communication  was  stopped,  letters 
to  or  from  England  were  seized  and  de- 
stroyed ;  every  Englishman  found  upon  the 
Continent  in  countries  that  acknowledged 
the  Napoleonic  rule  became  a  prisoner  of 
war.  Such  bitter  measures  could  only  be 
met  with  equal  hostility.  War  wTas  made, 
and  far  more  effectually,  upon  French  com- 
merce, so  that  soon  the  French  flag  was 
driven  from  the  seas.     The  strict  blockade 


268         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

against  British  goods  was  evaded  by  a 
gigantic  system  of  contraband  smuggling, 
which  became  one  of  the  most  profitable  of 
trades.  The  Custom  Houses  and  their 
officers  were  hoodwinked  or  bought  over 
even  the  highest  functionaries  took  bribes ; 
English  goods  still  reached  Continental  con- 
sumers, and  were  found  in  Napoleon's  own 
palaces,  but  at  the  advanced  prices  all  these 
manoeuvres  entailed.  The  Emperor  ap- 
pealed to  the  ladies  of  his  court  to  aid  him 
in  his  exclusion  of  the  products  that  travelled 
through  the  country  he  hated.  He  begged 
them  to  prefer  Swiss  to  Chinese  tea,  to  drink 
chicory  instead  of  Mocha  coffee,  to  eat  beet- 
root sugar,  to  eschew  English  stuffs  and 
draperies.  "Let  them  beware  I  do  not 
catch  them  wearing  dresses  of  English 
manufactures,"  he  wrote  Junot.  This  pro- 
hibition would  have  a  double  effect,  he 
hoped  ;  it  would  injure  England  and  stimu- 
late French  production.  But  it  failed  sig- 
nally, and  France  in  the  long  run  suffered 
far  more  than  England  from  the  Continental 
blockade.  The  climax  of  absurdity  was 
reached  in  the  coming  campaign  of  Friedland, 
and  the  Hanse  Towns,  which  had  been  laid 


NAPOLEON 
(From  an  Engraving  by  Rados,  after  /.  B.  Bosio 


-IMPERIAL  CiESAR"         271 

under  contribution  for  200,000  pairs  of  shoes, 
50,000  greatcoats  and  other  clothing,  were 
obliged  to  contract  for  them  with  English 
firms,  so  that  battles  were  fought  under  the 
Emperor's  eye  by  soldiers  clad  in  uniforms 
that  had  been  made  at  Halifax  and  Leeds. 

Napoleon  knew  that  the  conflict  with 
Russia  would  be  serious,  and  that  great 
efforts  must  be  made  if  he  was  to  secure 
success.  He  was  prepared  to  take  the  initia- 
tive, although  it  was  the  winter  season,  and 
his  troops  had  suffered  severely  already. 
His  first  act  was  to  bring  up  reinforcements 
to  consolidate  his  position,  repair  the  for- 
tresses, organise  great  depots  of  supply  all 
along  the  road  from  France.  He  has  had  no 
superior  as  a  military  administrator,  and  his 
plans  as  seen  in  his  multifarious  and  elabo- 
rate correspondence  show  how  minutely  he 
attended  to  every  point,  how  he  held  every 
thread  in  his  own  hands.  In  anticipation 
I  of  the  demands  of  the  coming  campaign, 
he  forestalled  the  conscription  of  1807, 
and  at  once  called  up  all  recruits  of 
that  year.  He  levied  enormous  contri- 
butions on  subject  and  friendly  peoples — 
cash   from    Germany,  newly   confederated, 


272 


LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


£24,000,000;  from  Italy,  £1,200,000 ;  from 
Spain,  £2,880,000 ;  from  Portugal,  £640,000; 
requisitions  for  warlike  stores  on  others.  He 
revised  the  arrangements  of  the  army  under 
his  immediate  orders  in  the  field,  especially 
for  the  cavalry,  which  would  be  largely  used 
in  the  great  plains  of  Poland  and  Eastern 
Prussia.  A  great  depot  was  formed  at 
Potsdam,  in  the  extensive  stables  built  by 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  here  all  the  horses 
captured  or  bought  were  collected  to  be 
broken  in  and  made  into  efficient  cavalry. 
By  these  active  measures  the  Grand  Army 
was  soon  raised  to  an  effective  300,000  men, 
of  whom  about  half  only  were  available  for 
field  operations,  the  rest  being  dispersed 
along  the  communications,  or  in  hospital 
sick  and  wounded.  With  these  150,000  he 
now  faced  the  Russians,  and  completed  the 
subjugation  of  Europe.  "The  dice  will 
decide  the  game,"  he  wrote  the  poor  King 
of  Prussia,  wTho  had  rashly  declared  that  he 
still  relied  upon  the  Czar. 

The  opposing  armies  were  very  different 
in  character  and  constitution.  Napoleon 
had  developed  efficiency  by  every  possible 
means  ;  the  drill  and  tactics  of  the  French 


'IMPERIAL  CAESAR"         273 

troops  had  been  perfected  under  his  own 
eye,  guided  by  the  experience  gained  in  the 
last  campaign.  With  his  infinite  capacity 
for  taking  pains,  he  had  created  regiments 
of  grenadiers  and  voltigeurs ;  he  had  re- 
vised and  improved  the  infantry  formation, 
adopting  a  system  based  upon  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  rank  and  file  and  the  practical 
knowledge  of  their  regimental  officers.  At 
this  period  the  personnel  of  the  army  was 
at  its  best ;  the  ranks  were  filled  with  the 
fine  old  soldiers  of  the  revolutionary  wars, 
steady,  self-reliant  veterans,  who  had  long 
made  war  their  trade.  They  had  the  un- 
bounded confidence  in  their  officers  that 
constant  success  must  always  give.  These 
soldiers  were  a  fine  nucleus  of  strength, 
invaluable  by  their  experience  and  their 
example.  Scientific  instruction  had  been 
lavished  upon  the  officers  of  staff,  artillery, 
and  engineers ;  the  highest  skill  was  en- 
couraged by  the  rewards  that  followed  its 
display. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Russian  army 
was  ill-organised  and  badly  led.  Although 
the  men  were  strong,  sturdy,  constant  in 
battle,    and    when    on    duty    kept    within 


274         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

bounds,  they  were  drunken,  and  without 
discipline  in  quarters.  The  regimental 
officers  were  lazy,  ignorant,  without  military 
education  ;  so  that  for  all  scientific  work 
foreigners  were  engaged,  between  whom 
and  the  native  officers  there  was  much 
heartburning  and  ill-will.  The  training  of 
the  Russian  troops  was  indifferent ;  the 
infantry  tactics  never  went  beyond  bayonet 
attacks  ;  the  Cossack  cavalry  could  not  be 
depended  upon  for  manoeuvre,  although 
excellent  as  irregulars.  Organisation  was 
hopelessly  bad  :  brigades  and  divisions  were 
not  properly  made  up  of  the  three  arms ; 
hospitals  were  few  ;  an  enormous  host  of 
camp-followers,  including  servants  and  re- 
tainers— as  many  as  200  per  regiment — 
impeded  free  movement.  Thus  the  natural 
courage  of  the  Russian  soldiery  was  sadly 
handicapped,  although  finely  apparent  on 
many  a  hard-fought  field.  They  stood 
their  ground  with  magnificent  tenacity  in 
the  campaigns  of  1806-7,  and  the  battles  of 
Eylau  and  Friedland  bear  witness  to  this. 
As  Capefigue  remarks,  with  Austrians  and 
Prussians  campaigns  were  decided  in  one 
or   two    great    actions,   when    capitulation 


-IMPERIAL  CiESAR"         275 

and  surrender  followed  ;  with  the  Russians 
"  there  was  nothing  but  to  kill  or  be  killed." 
Victory  was  not  secured  without  frightful 
carnage  and  the  annihilation  of  almost  the 
last  man. 

Napoleon  began  this  fierce  struggle  with 
the  occupation  of  Warsaw  and  an  advance 
to  the  Vistula.  He  succeeded  in  driving 
his  enemy  back  in  sharp  engagements  at 
Pultusk  and  Golymin — the  first  fought  and 
won  by  Lannes,  the  second  by  Davoust 
and  Augereau.  Now  the  winter  set  in 
with  extreme  severity — hard  frosts  alter- 
nated with  sudden  thaws ;  the  roads,  knee- 
deep  in  mud,  became  nearly  impassable  for 
men  or  guns.  The  great  distances  and 
the  terrible  weather  made  the  supply  of 
the  army  most  difficult,  and  the  hospitals 
were  crowded  with  the  sick  and  wounded. 
Davoust's  corps  were  reduced  to  15,000 
men,  Soult's  to  19,000;  Augereau  s,  further 
weakened  by  the  desertion  of  stragglers  and 
marauders,  was  only  7000  strong.  Repose 
was  absolutely  essential  for  both  the 
belligerents,  and  both  went  into  winter 
quarters,  where,  under  the  active  care  of 
Napoleon,  the  French  soon  recovered  health 


276         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  strength.  Early  in  January  1807  the 
Russian  General,  Beningsen,  resumed  the 
offensive.  Under  cover  of  the  network  of 
lakes  in  East  Prussia  he  hoped  to  surprise 
the  French  left,  relieve  Colberg,  Dantzig 
and  Graudenz,  and  securing  the  Lower 
Vistula,  then  await  in  winter  quarters  his 
expected  reinforcements  from  Russia.  This 
move  was  nearly  successful ;  but  Ney  ex- 
tricated the  French  left,  and  Napoleon, 
fathoming  Beningsen's  intentions,  threw  his 
whole  army  forward  across  the  Vistula  to 
intercept  the  enemy.  On  January  30  he 
quitted  Warsaw,  where  he  had  kept  his 
court,  and  next  day,  four  days  after  the 
orders  were  issued,  he  was  concentrated  on 
Wittenberg.  He  continued  to  advance, 
and  on  the  6th  came  upon  the  Russians, 
now  in  retreat  on  Landsberg.  They  fought 
rearguard  actions  that  day,  and  on  the 
7th  were  in  position  at  Eylau,  where  he 
was  brought  to  bay.  A  three-fold  action 
followed.  Eylau  was  taken  by  the  French, 
re-taken  by  the  Russians,  then  abandoned, 
and  on  the  8th  the  great  battle  was  fought. 
The  victory  in  this  terrible  conflict  was 
claimed  by  both   sides.     Napoleon,  having 


"IMPERIAL  (LESAR"         277 

massed  all  his  artillery  in  the  centre,  sent 
Augereau  on  to  attack,  with  Davoust  to 
follow  when  he  came  up  on  the  right. 
Augereau  marched  under  the  fire  of  the 
concentrated  Russian  artillery,  and  was 
nearly  destroyed.  A  heavy  snowstorm  now 
interposed  a  thick  pall,  and  when  it  cleared 
an  attempt  to  turn  the  French  right  would 
have  been  successful  but  for  a  desperate 
cavalry  charge  under  Murat.  Xhe  crisis  of 
the  action  came  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Prussian  corps,  under  JLEstocq,  on  the  left 
flankjof  the  French.  By  this  time  Davoust 
began  to  be  felt  on  the  other  flank,  and  he 
eventually  established  himself  on  the  left 
of  the  Russian  position.  Ney  wTas  at  the 
heels  of  L'Estocq,  and  he  presently  appeared 
upon  the  Russian  right.  With  both  flanks 
thus  threatened,  Beningsen  drew  off,  leaving 
Napoleon  in  possession  of  the  ground  he 
had  gained.  His  guard  had  not  yet  been 
engaged,  while  the  Russians  had  thrown 
every  regiment  into  the  fight :  he  could 
therefore  fairly  claim  to  have  had  the  best 
of  it.  Moreover,  next  day  Beningsen  fell 
back  upon  Konigsberg,  and  the  French 
cavalry   followed,   although   too  much  ex- 


278         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

hausted  to  pursue  with  great  vigour.  After 
a  halt  at  Eylau  for  eight  days — a  political 
demonstration,  intended  to  impress  Europe 
with  his  victory — he  again  retired,  but  to 
take  up  a  less  extended  position.  Now 
Warsaw  was  left  to  an  independent  corps, 
and  the  main  army  occupied  the  Vistula, 
from  Thorn  to  the  sea,  with  the  centre 
thrown  forward  to  Osterode. 

Once  again  Napoleon  bent  every  energy 
to  improve  the  morale  and  material  effi- 
ciency of  his  army.  He  had  now  a  total  of 
60,000  absentees,  half  sick,  half  marauders  ; 
and  15,000  more  were  ho?*s  de  combat  from 
wounds.  It  was  of  the  terrible  hardships 
lately  endured  that  Napoleon  wrote  to 
Joseph,  who  was  complaining  of  discom- 
forts in  his  kingdom  of  Naples  :  "  Here  we 
make  war  with  all  its  vigour  but  all  its 
horrors.  .  .  .  The  officers  of  the  staff  have 
not  undressed  for  two  months,  many  not 
for  four  months.  I  myself  have  not  taken 
off  my  boots  for  a  fortnight.  We  are  in 
the  midst  of  snow  and  mud,  without  wine, 
brandy  or  bread.  We  have  nothing  but 
potatoes  to  eat;  we  make  long  marches 
and  counter-marches — no  pleasant   experi- 


NAPOLEON    AT    BERLIN   AFTER    HIS    ENTRY   WITH    HIS    AKMY 

ON   OCTOBER   27,    1806 

{From  the  Picture  by  Bert/ion  in  the  Versailles  Caller}?) 


"  IMPERIAL  CAESAR  M         281 

ence.  We  have  to  fight  with  the  bayonet 
under  a  tremendous  fire  of  grape,  the 
wounded  have  then  to  be  carried  back  150 
miles  in  open  sleighs.  It  is  but  a  poor  joke," 
he  adds,  "to  compare  the  places  where  we 
are  to  the  lovely  country  of  Naples,  where 
you  have  wine,  bread,  covering  for  your 
beds,  society  and  even  women."  Yet  the 
iron  nerves  of  the  great  leader  were  quite 
unshaken  in  spite  of  all  his  army  endured. 
"  In  the  midst  of  these  great  fatigues  every- 
one has  been  more  or  less  ill ;  as  for  my- 
self, I  was  never  stronger,  I  have  grown 
stout." 

The  sufferings  of  the  army  and  the  incon- 
clusive nature  of  the  campaign  of  Eylau 
could  not  be  concealed  from  the  French 
people,  and  marked  despondency  had  fol- 
lowed the  frantic  rejoicings  over  Auster- 
litz  and  Jena.  Paris  was  deserted,  the 
chief  personages  at  the  Court  were  absent 
at  the  front.  Trade  languished  with  the 
absence  of  all  gaiety,  the  industries  that 
ministered  to  it  were  at  a  standstill. 
Napoleon  from  the  Vistula  strove  to 
remedy  this  distress.  He  sent  positive 
orders  to  the  Empress,  to  the  Princesses,  to 


282         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Cambaceres,  Lebrun,  and  all  great  officials 
to  give  constant  entertainments ;  money 
obtained  by  the  sale  of  oh  jets  d'art  in  the 
imperial  palaces  was  to  be  applied  in  the 
purchase  of  native  manufactures  ;  funds  for 
the  same  purpose  were  to  be  drawn  from 
the  Treasury,  even  from  his  private  purse. 
All  warlike  stores,  accoutrements,  equip- 
ment, clothing,  guns,  carriages — everything 
possible  of  which  the  field-army  stood  in 
need  should  be  made  in  Paris,  despite  the 
distance  and  the  difficulties  of  transport. 
To  meet  this,  his  ingenious  mind  devised 
the  formation  of  a  corps  of  new  equipages 
militaires,  battalions  of  the  train  that  should 
bring  their  new  wagons  right  up  to  the 
front.  Thus  he  obtained  quantities  of 
boots  and  shoes,  food  and  hospital  comforts, 
harness,  ammunition,  every  necessary  for 
the  replenishment  of  his  army  and  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Negotiations  for  peace  were  in  progress 
during  March,  and  a  great  effort  made 
to  come  to  terms  separately  with  Prussia. 
Dantzig  fell  in  May,  and,  releasing  30,000 
men  who  had  besieged  it,  Napoleon's  army 
reached   an    effective  strength  of  160,000. 


NArOLEON 
{From  a  Lithogiaph  afier  Charlet) 


'IMPERIAL  CLESAR'  285 

The  Russians  had  also  been  reinforced, 
and  Beningsen  commanded  120,000  men. 
Napoleon  now  proposed  to  drive  the 
Russians  back  upon  the  Niemen,  and  it 
would  have  been  Beningsen's  surest  course 
to  await  attack,  for  he  had  two  strong  river- 
lines  to  defend,  while  the  French  advance 
must  be  hazardous.  The  campaign  opened 
in  June,  and  was  rapidly  decided.  Various 
sharp  encounters  took  place  at  Deppen, 
Guttstadt  and  Heilsberg,  but  by  the  14th 
the  Russians  had  fallen  back  towards 
Konigsberg.  Napoleon  came  up  with 
them  at  Friedland,  not  far  from  Eylau,  and 
fought  the  last  battle  of  the  war.  The 
honours  of  the  day  fell  to  Ney,  who  stormed 
the  town  of  Friedland ;  to  Mortier,  who 
carried  the  centre  of  the  Russian  position  ; 
and  to  Victor,  "Beau  Soleil,"  as  his  soldiers 
called  him,  and  who  came  into  notice  that 
day  leading  Bernadotte's  corps.  The  victory 
was  bloody  and  decisive,  a  new  feature 
having  been  introduced  for  the  first  time  — 
the  concentration  of  a  large  number  of  guns 
to  bring  their  fire  upon  one  vital  point. 

After  Friedland  came  the  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
which    placed    Napoleon    on    the    topmost 


286         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

pinnacle  of  his  glory.  He  was  now  practi- 
cally supreme  Dictator  in  Europe ;  he  had 
overthrown  Austria,  Italy  barely  existed, 
he  had  trampled  Prussia  under  foot,  and 
crippled  Russia.  He  could  impose  his 
policy  upon  the  great  sovereigns,  who  were 
his  vassals  and  dared  not  dispute  his 
imperious  Avill.  The  one  sore  point  was 
England's  stubborn  refusal  to  recognise  his 
royalty.  He  had  set  the  Czar  to  make 
friendly  overtures,  but  they  were  sternly 
rejected;  and  Napoleon  angrily  declared, 
"It  shall  be  war  to  the  knife,  then;  war 
to  the  death  of  one  of  us."  This  brought 
on  the  coalition  against  England  that  was 
substituted  for  the  abortive  invasion ;  the 
coalition  that  led  hereafter  to  the  dethrone- 
ment and  imprisonment  of  the  Pope,  the 
conquest  of  Portugal,  and  that  mistaken 
invasion  of  Spain  which  was  to  prove  so 
disastrous. 

The  Emperor,  on  his  return  to  Paris 
after  Tilsit,  was  received  with  an  ovation 
such  as  was  never  decreed  to  the  most 
triumphant  Roman.  France  was  beside 
herself  with  joy.  The  enthusiasm  rose  to 
universal  delirium ;  the  country  was  sated 


"IMPERIAL  CLESAR"         287 

with  glorv.  These  victorious  achievements 
flattered  her  vanity  and  gave  her  the  first 
place  in  Europe.  It  was  but  natural  that 
she  should  pour  incense  before  the  man  to 
whom  she  owed  it  all ;  should  worship 
him  in  his  unapproachable  grandeur,  gladly 
hugging  her  gilded  chains,  whose  iron 
pressure  was  concealed  under  such  glorious 
laurels.  The  acclamations  of  the  people 
were  loud  and  prolonged ;  congratulatory 
addresses  poured  in  on  every  side.  France 
was  willingly  beguiled  by  the  enchanter, 
who  loaded  her  with  rich  gifts  and  new 
prosperity.  "Luxury  and  glory  have  never 
failed  to  turn  the  heads  of  the  French  "  was 
a  speech  of  the  Emperor's,  and  under  their 
glamour  he  found  the  best  security  for  his 
throne. 

Within  the  circle  of  his  own  Court  and 
entourage  the  satisfaction  was  not  so  keen. 
Joy  was  tempered  with  apprehension.  -  It 
was  anxiously  debated  among  these  many 
dependents  on  his  sovereign  pleasure 
whether  their  mighty  master  had  come 
back  in  a  good  temper  or  not.  Many 
things  had  occurred  in  Paris  during  his 
absence    to    vex    and    annoy    him.       His 


288         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

family  could  not  keep  the  peace  with  one 
another;  the  Bonapartes  were  bitterly 
hostile  to  Josephine,  and  there  was  in- 
cessant intriguing  about  succession  to  the 
imperial  crown.  The  acknowledged  heir, 
Napoleon's  favourite,  "M.  Napoleon,"  as  he 
called  him,  the  infant  son  of  Louis  and 
Hortense,  had  been  carried  off  suddenly  by 
croup.  On  whom  should  the  purple  fall  ? 
The  brothers  looked  for  it ;  one  sister, 
Caroline  Murat,  hankered  after  it  for  her 
beau  sabreur ;  Josephine  wished  it  for  her 
son  Eugene,  who  was  universally  beloved. 
Then  there  were  unsavoury  scandals  of  mis- 
conduct ;  august  ladies  nearly  related  to 
the  Emperor  were  accused  of  something 
more  than  indiscretion.  With  all  this  the 
Faubourg  St  Germain  was  credited  with 
much  malevolent  gossip,  ridicule  and  witty 
sayings  to  which  Napoleon  was  particularly 
sensitive,  with  real  hostility  to  the  present 
regime,  that  gave  uneasiness  to  its  despotic 
chief  and  reacted  on  his  temper. 

Napoleon  soon  showed  it,  for  he  scolded 
everybody  all  round  :  his  wTife,  his  family, 
the  Court,  high  society,  every  great  official. 
He  was  especially  angry  with  Fouche  and 


IMPERIAL  CESAR"  291 

the  imperial  police,  which  neglected  its 
chief  business,  that  of  espionage.  For 
deep,  dark,  rankling  suspicion  was  ever 
Napoleon's  bete  noire  ;  and  a  greedy  hunger 
for  news  and  tittle-tattle  always  marred 
his  greatness.  He  never  felt  safe,  doubting 
those  even  who  were  most  devoted  to  him. 
He  had  been  raised  by  his  great  deeds 
immeasurably  above  all  his  old  comrades, 
and  his  imperious  spirit,  inflated  by 
his  unbroken  good  fortune,  continually 
increased  the  distance.  But  from  the 
summit  of  his  throne  he  looked  anxiously 
down  into  the  depths  below,  fretting  to 
know  all  that  was  said  and  thought  of  him, 
whom  he  could  really  trust,  what  schemes 
might  be  hatching  out  of  his  sight  and 
reach. 

The  Imperial  Court,  thus  hanging  on  the 
goodwill  of  the  greatest  despot  the  world 
has  seen,  was  no  pleasant  resting-place,  the 
imperial  service  no  bed  of  roses.  Yet,  if 
the  great  Emperor  often  frowned  and 
scolded  furiously,  he  could  reward  as 
lavishly.  It  was  largely  for  his  own 
glorification,  to  increase  the  pomp  and 
pageantry  of  his  court,  that  he  now  created 


292  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

a  great  order  of  nobility  for  his  favourites 
and  followers,  bestowing  new  and  fantastic 
titles,  accompanied  with  munificent  endow- 
ments. His  brothers  were  now  Kings  ;  his 
brother-in-law  a  Grand  Duke ;  Ministers 
and  Marshals  became  Hereditary  Princes 
or  Dukes,  thirty-one  in  number,  called 
after  the  great  battles  they  had  won.  The 
first  Duke  made  was  Lefebvre,  husband  of 
the  now  famous  "  Madame  Sans-Gene," 
who  brought  the  barrack-room  into  the 
Palace,  and  was  a  far  more  worthy  woman 
than  many  who  laughed  at  her.  Now 
Talleyrand  became  Prince  of  Benevente ; 
Bernadotte,  Prince  of  Monte  Corvo ; 
Berthier,  Prince  of  Neuchatel ;  Lannes  was 
Duke  of  Montebello  ;  Ney,  of  Elchingen  ; 
Davoust,  of  Auerstadt ;  Soult,  Duke  of 
Dalmatia,  and  so  on.  Lesser  generals  were 
created  counts  and  barons  in  hundreds,  by 
their  own  or  other  names,  and  for  a  time 
the  confusion  in  Paris  as  to  addresses  was 
immense,  while  the  residences  of  the  new 
dignitaries  were  labelled  with  their  titles  in 
gold  letters,  and  heralds  were  kept  busy  in 
devising  coats-of-arms.  Enormous  incomes 
were  allotted  to  these  various  titles  from 


r*r% 


HORTENSE,    QUEEN    OF    HOLLAND   AND   STEP-DAUGHTER 
OF    NAFOLEON    BONAPARTE 


-IMPERIAL  CAESAR"         295 

the    French   treasury   or    the   revenues   of 
foreign  dependencies. 

At  Court  a  rigid  and  elaborate  system  of 
etiquette  was  introduced,  copied  to  a  large 
extent  from  the  ceremonial  customs  of 
ancient  monarchy,  but  enforced  with  a 
punctilious  exactitude  far  exceeding  that 
of  Versailles  or  Vienna.  After  the  move 
to  Fontainebleau,  which  shortly  became  a 
favourite  residence,  precise  rules  were  laid 
down  for  the  general  circle  :  great  person- 
ages received  on  certain  evenings :  on  one 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  entertained  with 
music  and  cards ;  on  another  the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Berg  (Madame  Murat)  gave 
a  ball ;  next  night  Princess  Borghese 
(Pauline  Bonaparte),  Princes  and  Ministers 
were  to  give  dinners  in  turn  ;  the  Grand 
Marshal  (Duroc)  kept  a  table  at  which 
twenty-five  covers  were  laid  daily.  The 
Emperor,  as  a  rule,  dined  tete-a-tete  with 
his  Empress ;  Kings  and  Princes  joined 
only  by  express  invitation.  Following  the 
old  practice  there  were  great  hunts  in  the 
forest  of  Fontainebleau.  Special  costumes 
were  designed  for  the  ladies,  and  each  great 
personage    prescribed    the   colour    for  her 


296         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

own  suite.  The  Empress  chose  a  tint  of 
purple  called  amaranth ;  Queen  Hortense, 
blue  and  silver ;  Madame  Murat,  pink ; 
Princess  Borghese,  lilac.  The  gentlemen, 
Emperor  included,  wore  green  and  gold. 
Yet  this  splendid  Court  was  by  no  means 
lively,  and  Napoleon  complained  that 
although  he  wanted  his  guests  to  amuse 
themselves  they  looked  bored  and  dull. 
The  fact  was  the  weight  of  his  despotism 
lay  heavy  upon  all ;  it  is  difficult  to  be  gay 
to  order,  even  though  couched  in  the  im- 
perious "  Je  le  veux  "  which  was  so  common 
an  expression  of  Napoleon's  irrevocable 
will.  It  was  impossible,  as  Talleyrand  said, 
to  "  amuse  the  unamusable." 

The  pomp  and  splendour  of  Napoleon's 
State,  were  seen  at  their  highest  when  he 
joined  the  Czar  Alexander  at  Erfurt  to 
arrange  the  affairs  of  Europe  and  secure 
a  free  hand  in  Spain.  It  was  a  theatrical 
display,  more  gorgeous  than  when  Henry 
VIII  met  Francis  upon  the  Field  of  the 
Cloth  of  Gold.  Napoleon  posed  as  the 
modern  Charlemagne ;  he  was  King  of 
Italy  and  Elmperor  of  the  West,  a  God-sent, 
divinely    endowed    potentate,    with    whom 


►A  POL  EON    AND    THE   QUEEN    OF    PRUSSIA   AT    TILSIT,    JULY   6,  1807 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Queen  of  Prussia  at  Konigsberg,  the  Emperor  descended  to  the 
street  to  meet  the  brave  and  beautiful  sovereign,  and  received  her  at  the  foot 
of  the  steps.  The  Imperial  Guard  were  under  arms;  the  Emperor  was  accom- 
panied by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Berg,  the  Marshals  Berthier  and  Ney,  General 
Duroc,  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Talleyrand. 

(Fror/i  the  Pichtre  by  Gosse  in  the  Versailles  Gallery.) 


"  IMPERIAL  CAESAR  "  299 

there  could  be  no  rivalry  or  equality — only 
his  brother  Emperor  was  suffered  to  stand 
near  him.  At  the  grand  banquets  these 
two  alone  had  arm-chairs  ;  ordinary  chairs 
were  set  for  Kings,  and  stools,  the  ancient 
tabouret,  were  good  enough  for  Princes. 
Crowned  heads  waited  in  ante-chambers, 
unnoticed  and  despised ;  a  sentry  who  was 
censured  for  not  saluting  one  excused  him- 
self by  saying  he  was  ''only  a  king."  At 
the  balls,  hunting-parties  and  festivities 
Napoleon  appeared  seldom ;  but  he  pat- 
ronised Wieland  and  Goethe,  whom  he 
summoned  to  his  presence,  and  treated 
these  immortals  to  long  disquisitions  on 
literature. 

Erfurt  may  be  taken  as  the  climax  and 
zenith  of  the  Napoleonic  legend.  But 
already  the  meridian  was  being  passed. 
He  was  now  committed  to  the  war  in 
Spain.  The  country  he  had  seemed  to 
subjugate  without  a  blow  had  now  risen 
against  him  as  one  man.  He  had  endured 
the  bitterness  of  his  first  terrible  reverse, 
the  surrender  of  an  army — Dupont's — at 
Baylen,  and  he  meant,  at  all  hazards,  at  all 
costs,  to  re-vindicate  his  authority.     "The 


3oo         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Spanish  War  will  be  fatal  to  the  French 
Empire,"  said  Talleyrand,  with  far-seeing 
inspiration.  "It  is  the  beginning  of  the 
end."  Napoleon  punished  his  unpalatable 
prediction  with  abuse  and  disgrace,  and 
Talleyrand  was  not  seen  again  in  Paris  till 
after  the  retreat  from  Moscow  had  shown 
this  fatal  end  within  measurable  distance. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    EMPRESS    MARIE    LOUISE— 1 809-1811 

|HE  seeds  of  Napoleon's 
downfall  were  first  sown 
in  the  seizure  of  Spain. 
This  lawless  act  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  world 
to  his  real  character, 
to  the  nature  of    the 
despotism    that    now 
ruled  France.     It  has   been  called  a  bur- 
glary, but  it  was  worse,  for  the  robbery  was 
effected  through  a  door  held  hospitably  open 
by  a  friendly  neighbour.     Talleyrand  always 
condemned  it,  calling  it  a  base  intrigue,  an 
attack  upon  national  aspirations,  a  blunder 
that  conld  never  be  repaired.     "That  ill— 

301 


3o2  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

advised  man  will  call  his  whole  position  in 
question.  No  victories  can  efface  such  deeds," 
he  is  reported  to  have  said.  "  They  are  too  full 
of  treachery,  trickery  and  deceit.  I  cannot 
tell  what  will  happen,  but  you  will  see  that 
no  one  will  forget  them."  Spain,  taken  by 
surprise,  only  awoke  later  to  a  resistance  so 
embittered  that  it  shook  the  Napoleonic 
power ;  but  what  it  felt  was  summed  up  by 
General  Morla  in  his  justification  of  the 
shameful  breach  of  the  treaty  of  Baylen. 
11  How  can  you  complain,"  he  asked,  "  of 
the  ill-treatment  of  an  army  that  entered 
Spain  on  the  pretence  of  friendship,  which 
imprisoned  our  King  and  his  family,  sacked 
his  palaces,  robbed  and  murdered  his  sub- 
jects, ravaged  the  country,  and  usurped  the 
throne  ? "  /■ 

The  ever-present  and  absorbing  desire  to 
humiliate  England  was  no  doubt  a  prime 
cause  of  the  occupation  of  Spain.  After 
Tilsit  three  nations  remained  outside  the 
confederacy,  Denmark,  Portugal  and  Spain, 
and  the  Emperor  was  resolved  to  turn 
them  also  against  England.  What  Den- 
mark might  have  done  we  shall  never 
know,  for  England  carried  off  her  fleet  and 


NAPOLEON 

{From  a  Lithograph  by  Fauconnier) 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     305 

held  it  as  a  security  for  good  behaviour. 
Portugal,  our  ancient  ally,  made  immediate 
submission,  and,  as  her  reward,  was  filled 
with  French  troops  and  was  to  be  parti- 
tioned between  her  new  friend  and  Spain. 
Spain  was  already  subservient,  and  ready 
to  execute  Napoleon's  fiats ;  she  might 
even  have  asked  him  for  a  new  king  to 
replace  the  feeble  Bourbon  dynasty.  But 
Napoleon  preferred  foul  means  to  any 
waiting  game,  and  on  the  plea  of  invading 
Portugal,  poured  a  so-called  friendly  army 
into  Spain,  which  quietly  took  possession 
of  the  fortresses  and  soon  held  the  whole 
country.  Murat  entered  Madrid  in  March  ; 
then  the  King  abdicated,  and  with  his  son 
Ferdinand  went  to  Bayonne,  where  Napo- 
leon was,  and,  under  pressure,  gave  up 
their  rights.  Meanwhile  an  insurrection 
broke  out  in  Madrid,  which  was  dealt  with 
sternly  by  Murat,  and  which  yet  spread 
and  increased  till  all  Spain  was  aflame. 

The  Spanish  rising  did  not  prevent 
Napoleon  from  placing  his  brother  Joseph 
upon  the  throne  ;  but  it  was  never  sup- 
pressed, and  when  backed  by  England  it 
became  a  constantly  open  sore,  eating,  like 


o6         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


a  gangrene,  into  the  life  and  strength  of  the 
Napoleonic  power.  Ere  long  Spain  occu- 
pied a  monster  French  army  drawn  from 
other  fields,  vast  military  resources,  the 
best  generals.  Napoleon  himself  failed  in 
this  disastrous  struggle.  He  learned,  too 
late,  that  he  had  rashly  embarked  on  a 
seemingly  interminable  war  from  which 
there  was  no  glory  to  be  gained ;  very 
much  the  reverse  indeed.  He  presently 
realised  "  that  he  had  begun  this  business 
ill,  conducted  it  with  weakness,  and  had 
singularly  underestimated  its  difficulty  and 
importance."  It  was  a  huge  blunder. 
Before  1808  he  could  control  Spain  as  he 
pleased ;  now  it  cost  him  300,000  men  and 
weakened  his  hold  of  Central  Europe.  The 
Spanish  insurrection  had  been  imitated  in 
Northern  Germany  ;  and  the  risings  under 
Kalt,  Brunswick,  Schill,  and  others  sought 
with  intrepid  self-sacrifice  to  retrieve  the 
disgrace  of  Jena.  Prussia  was  secretly 
hostile,  and  Austria  was  willing  to  strike 
a  new  blow  for  freedom.  It  was  not  a 
time  to  lock  up  half  his  army  in  the  far  end 
of  Europe. 

It  has  been  said  that  England  missed  a 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     307 

great  opportunity  and  wasted  upon  Wal- 
cheren  an  expedition  that  would  have  been 
the  backbone  of  the  new  resistance  had  it 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe.  Whether 
or  no,  she  undoubtedly  neglected  the  point 
where  success  was  really  achieved.  The 
stubborn  defence  of  Portugal  was  main- 
tained by  Wellington  almost  in  spite  of  the 
British  Government.  The  inexhaustible 
patience  of  a  General  whose  genius  for  war 
was  still  unappreciated,  and  who  rose  by 
sheer  strength  of  purpose,  saved  the  situ- 
ation. What  would  have  happened  had 
Napoleon  come  again  to  Spain  ?  Had  he 
himself  controlled  the  vast  forces  concen- 
trated against  these  pestilent  English  and 
their  contemptible  "  Sepoy  General,"  would 
the  issue  have  been  different?  Conjecture 
in  such  a  case  is  vain  ;  yet  it  may  fairly  be 
said  that  his  presence  in  Spain  would  have 
ended  the  dissensions  of  his  Marshals, 
would  have  given  that  unity  of  action  to 
operations  conducted  with  true  science 
under  the  master  hand,  which  were  ever 
wanting  in  the  contest.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  doubt,  Wellington  would  have 
measured    his    great   opponent's   strength, 


3o8         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  relying  upon  his  troops  and  himself, 
have  adapted  himself  to  the  altered  circum- 
stances. It  has  been  suggested  that  Napo- 
leon had  no  great  heart  for  the  business ; 
that  once  already  he  had  avoided  a  conflict 
with  British  troops,  and  had  turned  back 
from  Astorga  when  Moore's  retreating- 
army  seemed  to  offer  an  easy  victory. 
Many  reasons  have  been  given  for  this 
sudden  volte-face.  Disquieting  news  from 
France  ;  a  suspicious  story  that  had  reached 
him  of  an  alliance  between  Talleyrand  and 
Fouche,  '£ces  deux  agneaux,"  as  he  called 
them,  and  a  plot  to  put  Murat  on  the 
throne  ;  strange  new  symptoms  of  restive- 
ness  in  his  senate ;  above  all,  the  belief 
that  Austria  was  arming  for  another  war. 

The  last-named  seems  the  most  probable, 
as  it  was  the  most  powerful  reason.  There 
was  little  glory  to  be  gained  and  some  risk 
in  rearguard  actions  with  an  unknown 
general  and  a  handful  of  troops.  Such 
sorry  triumphs  would  make  no  appeal  to 
the  imagination,  and  just  now  he  wanted 
startling  victories.  His  position  was  by  no 
means  secure ;  he  had  lost  ground  both  at 
home    and    abroad.       France    misdoubted 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     309 

him,  and  the  subject  nations  groaned  under 
his  yoke.  He  must  vindicate  his  supremacy 
anew,  and  by  another  great  and  glorious 
war.  The  campaign  of  1809  followed, 
with  hardly  the  result  he  confidently  ex- 
pected ;  for  although  he  won  the  battle  of 
Eckmtihl  at  the  outset,  that  of  Aspern- 
Essling  was  little  to  his  credit,  and  he  is 
adjudged  to  have  committed  grave  strate- 
gical and  tactical  errors  before  and  during 
the  fight.  He  was  well  matched  by  the 
Archduke  Charles,  who  deceived  him  and 
drew  him  on  to  attack  the  whole  Austrian 
army  when  Napoleon  believed  he  had 
before  him  no  more  than  10,000  men.  He 
was  in  possession  of  Vienna,  certainly,  but 
his  passage  of  the  Danube  by  a  single 
bridge  with  a  powerful  enemy  near  at  hand 
was  a  hazardous  proceeding,  which  erred 
against  the  dictates  of  military  science. 
His  position  on  the  far  side  of  the  river 
between  the  villages  of  Aspern  and  Essling, 
on  which  were  his  Hanks,  was  too  cramped 
for  the  full  utilisation  of  the  large  force  he 
had  thrown  over,  and  it  was  jeopardised 
when  the  enemy  destroyed  the  bridge 
which  was  his  only  means  of  retreat. 


310         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Again,  at  Wagram,  in  that  fiercely  con- 
tested battle  extending  over  two  whole 
days,  he  had  used  up  all  his  forces  but  two 
last  regiments  of  the  Old  Guard ;  and  had 
not  the  Archduke  Charles  been  forced  back 
by  the  menacing  advance  of  Macdonald,  or 
if  the  Archduke  John  had  come  up  in  time, 
Napoleon  must  have  been  perilously  near 
defeat;  as  it  was,  the  Austrians  drew  off 
in  excellent  order  without  losing  a  gan  or 
a  prisoner.  But  the  Archduke  Charles 
was  morally  overpowered  by  Napoleon,  and 
although  in  a  position  to  continue  the 
war  with  advantage,  he  made  overtures 
of  peace.  There  was  no  immediate  need 
for  submission — far  from  it.  But  Austria 
weakly  threw  up  the  sponge,  and  paid  for 
it  by  extraordinary  penalties — the  loss  of 
three  and  a  half  millions  of  population,  of 
her  access  to  the  sea,  and  a  war  indemnity 
of  £3,000,000. 

Napoleon  had  now  reached  the  culminat- 
ing point  in  his  rocket-like  career,  and  now, 
if  we  may  accept  his  own  words,  by  his 
own  act  he  began  to  descend.  He  was 
superstitious,  a  fatalist  to  the  last,  and  he 
believed  always  that  when  he  parted  with 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     311 

Josephine  he  parted  with  his  good  luck. 
Certainly  his  star  began  to  pale  after 
the  divorce.  He  might,  perchance,  have 
escaped  the  penalties  of  this  cruel  perfidy 
to  the  woman  who,  with  all  her  early  faults, 
had  been  an  excellent  helpmate,  and  to 
whom,  indeed,  he  owed  his  first  command  ; 
but  the  act  itself,  all  sentiment  apart,  had 
serious  political  consequences.  The  divorce 
led  directly  to  the  breach  with  Russia,  and 
the  invasion  of  1812.  It  was  the  first  rift 
in  the  lute,  the  first  weakening  of  the 
Treaty  of  Tilsit.  The  breach  soon  widened, 
helped  by  differences  over  the  Continental 
system  and  the  Czar's  obvious  inclination  to 
side  with  England.  But  the  quarrel  began 
with  the  Austrian  marriage,  the  story  of 
which  must  now  be  told. 

Years  before*  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  Empire,  the  question  of  heredity  had 
been  brought  into  great  prominence  by  the 
family  dissensions  of  the  Bonapartes,  all  of 
whom  hated  Josephine  and  were  jealous  of 
each  other.  That  Napoleon  should  have  a 
legitimate  heir  seemed  the  best  solution  of 
a  difficult  question  ;  it  ended  all  contention, 
and  it  got  rid  of  Josephine.     Joseph  urged 


3i2         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

divorce  strongly,  and  with  seeming  dis- 
interestedness, as  he  was  next  in  the  suc- 
cession. The  project  of  divorce  was,  no 
doubt,  strengthened  in  Napoleon's  mind 
by  his  wife's  not  unnatural  dislike  to  his 
barefaced  infidelities.  For  now  the  roles 
were  changed.  It  was  no  longer  Josephine 
who  was  indiscreet ;  the  Emperor  was 
openly  unfaithful.  With  that  unequalled 
egoism  that  claimed  to  be  above  all  rule, 
he  now  told  Josephine  that  he  was  sick  of 
her  jealous  spying,  and  meant  to  free  him- 
self by  taking  another  wife,  from  whom  he 
might  hope  to  have  an  heir.  Now  her  tears 
disarmed  him :  he  still  wished  for  the 
divorce,  it  was  his  earnest  desire ;  he 
begged  her  to  sacrifice  herself  voluntarily,- 
and  thus  spare  him  the  pain  of  obliging  her 
to  go,  but  when  she  still  resisted,  pleading 
firmly  for  her  rights,  he  gave  way.  But 
here  his  artful  mind  saw  another  solution 
—that  of  palming  off  a  supposititious  child 
upon  France.  The  Empress  had  agreed, 
but  an  obstacle  arose  in  Corvisart,  the 
great  physician,  who  honourably  refused  to 
be  a  party  to  the  plot.  Corvisart  told  this 
to  Madame  de  Remusat  after  the  second 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     315 

marriage,  when  doubts  were  expressed  as 
to  the  legitimacy  of  the  King  of  Rome. 

Josephine,  however,  won  the  day.  Not 
only  was  she  crowned  Empress  by  the 
Emperor's  side,  but  her  union,  which  had 
depended  hitherto  on  no  more  than  a  civil 
marriage,  was  sanctioned  by  a  religious 
ceremony  performed  by  Cardinal  Fesch  in 
the  Emperor's  cabinet  and  in  the  presence 
of  two  aides-de-camp.  The  Cardinal  gave 
her  a  written  certificate,  to  which  she  clung 
tenaciously,  despite  Napoleon's  subsequent 
efforts  to  secure  it.  This  religious  marriage 
became  later  a  great  stumbling-block,  for 
divorce  is  not  recognised  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  Napoleon  pretended  that  the 
ceremony  had  been  a  sham  ;  in  other  words, 
as  Lanfrey  says,  he  had  made  a  fool  of 
Josephine,  Cardinal  Fesch  and  the  Pope. 
The  alleged  nullity  of  the  marriage  was 
based  on  the  absence  of  the  cure  of  the 
parish,  whose  presence  alone,  it  was  said, 
could  make  it  legal. 

The  project  after  this  slumbered,  but 
it  never  died.  It  was  kept  alive  by 
Josephine's  well-grounded  jealousy,  and 
the    wholesale    nature    of    the    Emperor's 


1 6         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


indiscretions.  There  was  a  long  estrange- 
ment, during  which  the  poor  wife  brooded 
continually,  tortured  with  the  constant  fear 
of  expulsion,  and  the  Emperor  chafed  at 
her  prudery,  declaring  that  after  her 
conduct  in  the  past  she  had  lost  the  right 
to  take  him  to  task.  In  1805  there  was, 
however,  a  reconciliation.  Perhaps  he  was 
touched  by  her  gentle  submissiveness ; 
perhaps  the  old  love  nickered  up  afresh. 
At  anyrate,  they  became  good  friends  once 
more.  For  the  moment  Josephine's 
wretchedness  abated.  She  was  glad 
enough  to  forgive  her  Napoleon,  although 
hardly  sanguine  that  the  troubles  would 
not  revive.  They  did,  perpetually.  At 
Munich,  after  Austerlitz,  Napoleon  was 
deeply  smitten  with  the  Queen  of  Bavaria, 
an  elegant  and  most  attractive  woman. 
Although  he  assured  Josephine  there  was 
not  a  woman  worth  looking  at  in  Warsaw, 
he  met  the  beautiful  Madame  Walewska 
there,  the  one  passion  of  his  life,  as  he 
called  it,  the  only  woman  who  seems  to 
have  loved  him  sincerely,  although  another, 
Madame  Faures,  the  "  Bellilote  "  of  Cairo 
days,  was  so  devoted  that  she  went  to  St 


THE   EMPRESS    MARIE    LOUISE 
(Fro  n  thz  Portrait  by  Gerard  in  the  Louvre) 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     319 

Helena  and  sought  to  compass  his  escape. 
The  list  of  these  liaisons  is  long,  the  subject 
unsavoury.  To  Josephine,  if  she  dared 
reproach  him,  he  replied  brutally  with  the 
everlasting  "  Moi."  He  was  above  all  rules, 
and  meant  to  do  as  he  pleased. 

Still,  they  remained  on  fairly  good  terms, 
although  the  uncertainty  was  always  there, 
and  Josephine  never  felt  safe.  No  doubt 
Napoleon's  vanity  and  ideas  of  grandeur 
were  greatly  enlarged  after  Tilsit ;  he  was 
eager  now  to  enter  the  confraternity  of 
kings,  and  wished  to  gild  his  parvenu  title 
with  a  marriage  with  one  of  the  sovereign 
families  of  Europe.  He  would  have  per- 
suaded Josephine  to  consent  on  other 
grounds.  It  was  his  policy,  a  necessity 
for  France,  that  he  should  have  children  ; 
surely  she  would  help  him  to  make  the 
terrible  sacrifice,  would  take  the  initiative 
of  separation !  This  would  lessen  the 
odium  that  might  attach  to  him  after  this 
forced  rupture.  But  here  Josephine  was 
firm.  She  would  not  meet  him  half-way. 
She  was  prepared  to  obey  his  orders.  He 
was  her  master,  and  if  he  ordered  her  to 
leave  the  Tuileries  she  would  go  forthwith, 


32o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

but  he  must  issue  his  mandate.  "  If  you 
divorce  me,"  said  Josephine,  "all  France 
shall  know  that  it  is  you  who  have  sent  me 
away." 

This  did  not  suit  Napoleon.  Josephine 
was  more  than  popular  ;  she  was  generally 
beloved  ;  she  had  preserved  her  charm  of 
manner,  was  ever  gracious  and  kindly. 
The  people,  even  of  France,  "ridden  with 
whip  and  spur,"  would  probably  take  her 
side  if  she  were  ill-used,  and  Napoleon  was 
afraid  to  incense  public  opinion.  He  dared 
put  no  pressure  upon  her,  and  as  she  still 
stood  firm  he  tried  a  more  insidious  form 
of  attack.  He  sent  for  Fouche  and  primed 
him  to  address  her  as  if  on  his  own  account. 
The  crafty  police-officer  assured  her  of  his 
unalterable  devotion,  and  then  pleaded  with 
her  in  eloquent  terms  "to  immolate  herself 
for  France."  The  Emperor,  although  at 
the  summit  of  his  glory,  was  accountable 
to  France,  not  only  for  the  present  but  for 
the  future,  and  what  could  that  future  be 
without  a  rightful  heir  to  the  throne  ? 

Madame  de  Kemusat,  who  tells  this 
story  (which  is,  however,  vouched  for  by 
others),    describes    Josephine's    despair  at 


2   s 


O  ^ 

H  •*! 

?  8 

Pw  J> 

^  It 

o 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     323 

receiving  this  letter,  and  the  judicious 
manner  in  which,  under  M.  de  Remusat's 
advice,  she  met  the  crisis.  The  Empress 
went  straight  to  the  Emperor,  letter  in 
hand,  and  closely  watched  him  while  he 
read  it.  The  great  commediante  at  once 
affected  great  wrath,  declaring  that  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  and  that 
Fouche  should  be  severely  reprimanded. 
He  caressed  her  with  many  honeyed  words, 
but  could  not  quite  conceal  his  embarrass- 
ment. Later  he  excused  Fouche,  as  guilty 
only  of  an  excess  of  zeal ;  it  was  needless 
to  be  angry.  "It  is  quite  enough  to  reject 
his  advice,  for  you  know  well  that  I  could 
not  live  without  you." 

Another  Minister  would  not  adopt 
Fouche's  line :  Talleyrand  was  always  con- 
sistently opposed  to  the  divorce  —  con- 
sidering it  was  to  his  and  everyone's 
interest  that  Josephine  should  remain  at 
Napoleon's  side.  "  She  is  gentle  and  good  ; 
she  has  the  knack  of  keeping  him  quiet. 
.  .  .  She  is  a  refuge  for  us  on  a  thousand 
occasions.  If  a  Princess  were  to  come 
here  we  should  find  the  Emperor  break 
with    all    his   Court,    and    we    should    be 


324         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

nowhere."  Napoleon  seems  to  have  ac- 
knowledged her  as  his  better  influence, 
and  in  his  inmost  heart  was  loath  to  part 
with  her.  The  time  was  long  distant  when 
he  told  Madame  de  Stael,  who  taxed  him 
with  disliking  women,  "  J'aime  la  mienne," 
but  he  acknowledged  her  power  to  the  last. 
•'In  separating  myself  from  my  wife,  I  re- 
nounce all  the  charm  which  her  presence 
gives  to  my  life."  This  regret  was  accentu- 
ated when  the  divorce  was  actually  decided 
upon.  The  passage  in  Taine  has  been  often 
quoted  in  which  the  dramatic  story  of  the 
parting  is  told.  He  tosses  about  ...  he 
melts,  and  embraces  Josephine ;  he  is 
weaker  than  she.  "My  poor  Josephine,  I 
can  never  leave  you."  Again,  as  the  deed 
of  divorce  was  signed  by  both  parties,  "  the 
Emperor  was  no  less  moved  than  she 
(Josephine),  and  his  tears  were  genuine," 
says  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene. 

It  is  said  that  the  renewal  of  his  inti- 
macy with  Madame  Walewska,  who  visited 
him  at  Schonbrunn  in  1809,  finally  decided 
Napoleon  to  put  away  Josephine.  When 
he  returned  to  Fontainebleau  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  he  met  her  with  marked  coldness, 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     327 

the  private  door  between  their  apartments 
was  closed,  all  intimacy  was  at  an  end. 
But  the  dread  news  was  not  broken  to  her 
till  their  return  to  Paris,  although  the 
coming  divorce  was  already  on  every 
tongue.  On  the  night  of  November  30 
the  Prefect  of  the  Waiting  records  how  he 
was  called  in  to  assist  at  a  terrible  scene. 
Josephine  lay  half-fainting  on  the  floor, 
repeating,  " I  shall  never  survive  it!"  and 
uttering  piercing  cries.  The  Emperor  was 
extremely  agitated ;  his  voice  was  choked, 
his  eyes  full  of  tears.  Then  he  asked  the 
Prefect  whether  he  was  strong  enough  to 
carry  Josephine  to  her  own  apartments. 
But  as  the  answer  was  in  the  negative, 
Napoleon  assisted.  Josephine  now  seemed 
to  have  fainted  outright,  but  she  never 
lost  consciousness,  and  once  whispered  to 
the  Prefect  that  he  was  holding  her  too 
tightly. 

After  the  separation,  Napoleon  appears 
to  have  suffered  greatly.  Pie  could  not 
bear  the  solitude  ;  he  left  the  Tuileries  for 
Trianon,  where  he  was  still  more  alone. 
He  refused  to  see  his  Ministers,  transacted 
no  public  business,  and  presently  went  to 


128         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


o 


call  on  Josephine  at  the  residence  she  had 
chosen,  Malmaison.  A  few  days  later  she 
returned  the  visit,  and  they  dined  together, 
this  semi  -  detached  couple,  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  These  curious 
relations  were  maintained  till  the  end. 
Napoleon  often  communicated  with  his 
first  wife,  and  took  a  deep  personal  interest 
in  her  affairs,  paid  her  debts  as  of  old,  for, 
in  the  matter  of  extravagance,  Josephine 
was  incorrigible.  But  she  never  really 
held  up  her  head  after  the  divorce,  and 
died  in  1814,  before  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 
Yet  the  actual  choice  of  the  new  wife 
was  not  made  till  the  eleventh  hour. 
Napoleon  had  made  overtures  to  Russia 
for  a  sister  of  the  Czar,  but  they  were  re- 
ceived very  coldly.  The  disposal  of  the 
Russian  Princesses  in  marriage  was  left  by 
will  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  their  mother, 
and  this  Empress-mother  loathed  Napoleon 
with  a  deadly  hatred.  She  could  not 
easily  be  brought  to  consent,  and  the 
negotiations  languished.  Then,  when  an 
arrangement  seemed  probable,  Napoleon 
sent  a  peremptory  message  that  unless  a 
definite  reply  was  given    before   a   certain 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     331 

day,  he  withdrew  his  proposal.  It  has 
been  shown  that  no  such  reply  could 
possibly  reach  him  within  the  time,  and 
that  this  ultimatum  was  despatched 
purposely  to  break  the  bargain.  The 
fact  was,  another  and  more  enticing 
prospect  opened  up  unexpectedly.  The 
proposals,  too,  came  from  the  other  side. 
An  Austrian  Archduchess  was,  in  plain 
English,  thrown  at  his  head.  The  Emperor 
Joseph,  whom  he  had  so  sorely  buffeted 
and  despoiled,  was  willing — nay,  anxious 
— to  take  his  old  enemy  for  a  son-in-law. 
The  suggestion  came  from  the  Austrian 
Embassy  in  Paris,  at  first  no  more  than  a 
suggestion  ;  but  it  was  speedily  endorsed 
from  Vienna,  where  the  news  of  the 
Russian  march  had  caused  the  gravest 
concern.  A  Franco  -  Russian  alliance 
strengthened  by  family  ties  was  full  of 
danger  for  the  crippled  Austrian  Empire. 
Conversely,  marriage  with  the  Imperial 
despot  promised  a  long  era  of  peace,  during 
which  it  might  recover  from  its  wounds. 
The  idea  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm.  "  All 
Vienna  is  interested,"  writes  Metternich, 
the  diplomatic  go-between  in  arranging  the 


S32         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

match.  "It  is  difficult  to  realise  public 
feeling  about  it,  and  its  extreme  popu- 
larity." Thousands  assembled  in  front  of 
the  Ho f burg  Palace  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
Princess  Marie  Louise  on  her  way  to  and 
from  Mass. 

Was  she  really  happy,  this  lamb  about 
to  be  sacrificed  to  the  Corsican  ogre,  to 
the  terrible  man  whom  she  had  been 
taught  from  her  childhood  to  loathe  ? 

"  What  does  my  father  wish  ?  "  was  the 
first  question  of  the  dutiful  daughter.  To 
please  him  she  acquiesced  in  the  sacrifice. 
It  seems  as  if  she  soon  learned  to  view  it 
with  complacency.  The  first  consolation 
was  the  arrival  of  Napoleon's  portrait,  a 
miniature  magnificently  set  in  diamonds. 
"After  all,  he  is  not  bad-looking,"  she 
remarked.  The  prospect  before  her  lost 
its  chief  terror,  the  devil  was  not  so  black 
as  he  was  painted,  and  there  were  many 
compensations  in  store  for  the  young 
Empress  of  the  French.  Paris  was  now 
the  centre  of  the  world,  its  Court  most 
splendid.  A  ceaseless  round  of  gaieties 
awaited  her.  The  convent-bred  child  of  a 
monarch    in    reduced   circumstances,    wTho 


THE    EMPRESS    MARIE    LOUISE    AND    THE    KING    OF    ROME 
{From  the  Picture  by  Franque  in  the  Versailles  Gallery) 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     335 

could  give  her  no  jewels,  no  smart  clothes, 
no  amusements  but  of  the  dullest  and  most 
decorous  kind,  her  life  was  burdened  with 
a  stiff,  precise  etiquette  that  prescribed 
almost  conventual  seclusion. 

The  reality  must  have  quickly  silenced 
any  remaining  scruples.  The  ardent  lover 
in  his  rapture,  who  so  loaded  her  with  rich 
gifts,  promised  to  prove  a  doting  and  indul- 
gent husband.  He  filled  her  jewel-case, 
and  furnished  forth  her  trousseau  in  the 
most  lavish  fashion.  The  poor  Princess, 
whose  wardrobe  had  been  so  meagre,  whose 
personal  adornments  consisted  of  paste  and 
a  few  pearls,  was  now  provided  with  the 
finest  creations  of  the  best  dressmakers 
in  the  world.  Berthier  took  with  him 
to  Vienna,  among  other  costly  offerings, 
jewels  valued  at  £75,000 ;  one  necklace 
alone  was  worth  half  the  amount.  She 
learned  that  she  was  to  have  £15,000 
a  year  pin-money.  Her  French  home, 
wherever  she  found  it,  while  mounted 
most  gorgeously,  was  to  be  truly  home ; 
for  with  the  wish  to  please  her  lightest 
whim,  everything  was  there  that  she  had 
been  surrounded  with  at  Vienna. 


336         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Whatever  the  motives  that  impelled 
Napoleon  to  the  Austrian  marriage,  whether 
desire  for  an  heir  or  the  snobbish  vanity 
of  a  parvenu  delighted  to  mate  with  a 
daughter  of  the  Hapsburgs,  it  is  certain 
that  the  gratification  of  his  passions  played 
a  considerable  part.  She  took  his  fancy, 
this  high-born  maiden,  from  the  moment 
they  first  met,  and  he  soon  became  infatu- 
ated with  her.  She  had  the  beauty  of 
youth,  a  graceful  plump  figure,  a  pink  and 
white  complexion,  fine  chestnut  hair  and 
exquisite  teeth.  He  thrust  aside  all  for- 
malities when  they  brought  him  his  fair 
bride,  and  jumped  straight  into  her  carriage 
to  woo  her  with  all  the  peremptory 
gallantry  of  a  rough  soldier  seizing  his 
prize.  The  honeymoon  was  greatly  pro- 
longed. For  three  months  after  marriage 
the  Emperor  never  left  his  wife  ;  he  could 
hardly  be  dragged  away  by  even  the  most 
urgent  business.  He  followed  her  every- 
where with  loving  looks.  "  His  young  and 
insignificant  wife,"  as  Fouche  said,  "was 
the  object  of  his  tenderest  care." 

It  is  another  instance  of  the  crookedness 
of  things   that  all   this   devotion   was   ill- 


THE   DUKE   OF    REICHSTADT,  SON   OF   THE  EMrEROR  NAPOLEON 
{From  a  Portrait  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence) 
Y 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE     339 

requited,  and  that  the  woman  Napoleon 
favoured  above  all  women  should  have 
played  him  false.  When  the  evil  days 
came  she  deserted  him,  returning  first 
to  her  allegiance  with  Austria,  and  then 
coming  under  the  domination  of  Niepperg, 
the  man  she  really  loved.  It  is  needless  to 
follow  here  the  plot  to  which  she  succumbed  ; 
it  was  planned,  it  is  said,  by  her  own  father 
and  Metternich,  and  Napoleon  was  sacrificed 
to  the  lover.  Sympathy  must  surely  be 
with  the  fallen  monarch  who  hoped  to 
make  Elba  endurable  in  the  company  of 
his  wife  and  child  who  never  came.  After 
Waterloo,  Marie  Louise  told  Wellington 
he  had  done  her  an  immense  service  in  re- 
moving Napoleon  ;  nothing  in  her  condition 
could  have  saved  her  from  disgrace.  As  it 
was,  she  retired  to  Parma  to  rule  that 
duchy,  still  with  Niepperg,  who  at  length 
married  her  after  Napoleon's  death. 

But  Napoleon  had  gained  one  end  by 
his  second  marriage.  On  March  20,  1811, 
Marie  Louise  gave  him  a  son,  to  his  intense 
satisfaction,  and,  as  he  liked  to  believe,  the 
j  oy  of  France.  No  doubt  the  people  cheered 
vociferously,  and   seemed  to  welcome  the 


34o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

consolidation  of  the  dynasty,  But  it  was 
with  no  firm  conviction  that  the  Napoleonic 
rule  was  an  unmixed  boon ;  doubt  and 
suspicion  were  already  rife,  and  his  des- 
potism wTas  very  galling.  As  a  father, 
Napoleon  came  out  in  a  new  and  more 
estimable  light,  and  his  devotion  to  his 
child  was  deep  and  unchanging.  "He 
loved  his  son  passionately,"  kept  him  con- 
stantly by  his  side,  and  set  aside  momen- 
tous affairs  to  fondle  and  play  with  him. 
Yet  he  knew  that  this  heir  of  his  could  not 
bear  the  burden  of  his  Empire — it  was  far 
too  weighty ;  its  interests,  its  extent,  too 
vast  and  crushing  for  any  but  a  phenomenon 
like  himself.  "Poor  child,"  he  said  once 
as  he  contemplated  the  little  King  of 
Rome,  "  what  an  entanglement  I  shall 
leave  you ! "  He  had,  himself,  no  faith  in 
the  continuity  or  survival  of  his  power. 
"It  will  last  as  long  as  I  do,"  that  much  he 
believed.  "  But  after  me  my  son  may  deem 
himself  fortunate  if  he  has  40,000  francs 
(£1600)  a  year." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA — 1811-1812 


BLACK  shadow  of 
ppllvrJuji  impending  war  with 
Russia  had  darkened 
the  Continent  long 
before  1812.  There 
were  many  causes  at 
work  to  weaken  and 
finally  dissolve  the 
alliance  between  Napoleon  and  the  Czar. 
That  the  Emperor  had  unceremoniously 
jilted  a  Russian  Princess  for  the  marriage 
with  Marie  Louise  was  only  one  cause  of 
quarrel.  There  were,  also,  the  wholesale 
annexations  by  which  the  confines  of  France 

341 


342  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

were  vastly  extended  ;  such  as  the  Valais, 
part  of  Hanover,  the  Duchy  of  Oldenburg, 
all  the  sea-coast  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Elbe.  Again,  Napoleon's  threat  to  restore 
Polish  independence  kept  open  a  constant 
sore.  But  a  chief  cause  of  difference  was  the 
Continental  system.  As  far  back  as  1810 
Napoleon  was  at  issue  with  the  Czar  about 
the  restrictions  on  English  trade.  Alexander 
had  followed  his  ally  loyally  in  declaring  war 
with  England,  and  in  closing  his  ports  to  her 
ships  and  her  goods,  but  he  claimed  to  con- 
trol the  commerce  of  his  country  and  the 
apportionment  of  duties  as  he  pleased.  This 
war  of  tariffs  was  becoming  a  madness  with 
Napoleon.  New  decrees  were  issued  with 
bewildering  rapidity,  imposing  heavy  per- 
centages on  imported  goods,  prescribing 
seizures  that  ruined  honest  traders,  and 
were  maintained  by  whole  armies  acting 
as  Customs  House  officers.  These  severe 
penalties  in  some  measure  recouped  the 
Treasury  for  the  immense  losses  due  to 
contraband :  smuggling  was  universal  and 
very  profitable.  Russia  alone  in  Europe 
refused  to  accept  Napoleon's  laws,  to 
observe  his  despotic  regulations  for  trade, 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     343 

and  Napoleon  at  length  realised  that  if  the 
Czar  was  to  be  bent  to  his  will,  it  must  be 
by  force  of  arms.  He  could  not  tolerate 
opposition  now  when  he  was,  or  believed 
himself,  the  undisputed  master  of  the 
world. 

Let  us  consider  what  his  power  was  at 
this  time,  and  how  it  was  maintained. 
Save  for  the  desultory  combat  in  Spain 
there  was  peace  throughout  his  empire, 
such  peace  as  the  bully  imposes  by  the 
sheer  weight  of  his  sovereign  strength. 
Europe  was  almost  entirely  at  his  feet ; 
nearly  every  nation  owed  him  allegiance ; 
his  creatures  and  vassals  sat  on  their 
thrones.  Coercion  was  the  penalty  of 
resisting  his  authority.  The  Pope  would 
not  declare  war  with  England,  being  for- 
bidden, as  he  pleaded,  by  his  faith;  forth- 
with the  heir  of  St  Peter  was  thrust  from 
his  holy  seat  and  held  a  prisoner.  Russia 
was  restive,  and  must  accept  the  arbit- 
rament of  the  sword.  This  universal 
submission  had  been  gained  by  ruthless 
severity  ;  it  was  maintained  by  a  watchful 
control  that  paralysed  all  independence  and 
placed  all  State  resources  at  the  absolute 


344         I^IFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

disposal  of  France.  The  colossal  fabric  of 
Napoleon's  empire  could  only  be  sustained 
by  onerous  and  arbitrary  exactions  :  contri- 
butions were  levied  upon  all  his  allies  and 
subjects,  in  war  material,  military  contin- 
gents, cash.  The  vast  army  he  presently 
led  into  Russia  was  mixed  and  polyglot. 
Austria,  Bavaria,  Saxony,  Wiirtemberg, 
Italy,  even  Spain,  swelled  its  ranks,  shared 
its  fortunes,  its  short-lived  triumphs  and 
ultimate  collapse. 

The  wasting  and  perpetual  blood  tax  was 
not  the  whole  price  that  France  paid  for 
her  greatness.  She  had  surrendered  her 
freedom  entirely  into  the  hands  of  a 
jealous  tyrant,  and  was  hopelessly,  abjectly 
enslaved.  And  she  must  suffer  in  sub- 
missive silence.  The  Press  was  gagged 
with  an  alert  censorship  that  missed 
nothing ;  the  police,  wielded  now  by 
the  unscrupulous  Savary,  made  wholesale 
seizures,  as  when  Madame  de  Stael's  work 
on  Germany  was  suppressed,  the  sheets 
burnt,  and  their  outspoken  writer  expelled 
from  France.  She  supposed  that  her  crime 
was  to  have  omitted  Napoleon's  name  from 
her  book,  but  Savary  told  her  that  there 


NAPOLEON,    FROM   A   MINIATURE 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     347 

could  be  no  place  in  it  "  worthy  of  the 
Emperor,"  that  her  work  was  "not  French, 
and  that  the  air  of  her  native  country  was 
not  good  for  her."  The  handful  of  news- 
papers permitted  to  appear  might  be  pro- 
fitably worked  in  the  absence  of  compe- 
tition, but  they  were  saddled  with  the 
endowment  of  other  literature,  and  had  to 
pay  pensions,  which  such  eminent  writers 
as  Monge,  Chenier  and  Benardin  St  Pierre 
did  not  blush  to  accept.  The  right  of 
private  as  well  as  public  speech  was 
forbidden.  The  most  elaborate  and  widely- 
extended  espionage  prevailed,  worked  by  a 
shameless  secret  police,  which  reported 
everything  they  heard,  magnifying  mere 
trifles  into  overt  attacks  upon  Napoleon 
and  his  regime.  The  Emperor  was  easily 
outraged  ;  his  arm  was  far-reaching ;  a 
chance  expression  idly  uttered  in  Vienna 
or  Berlin  met  swift  reproof,  and  nearly 
certain  punishment.  How  can  those  who 
still  worship  their  great  idol  excuse  a 
system  that  filled  the  State  prisons  with 
political  offenders,  condemned  for  a  crooked 
look  or  a  mere  whisper  of  dissent  I  These 
prisons  were  multiplied,  they  were  estab- 


348         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

lished  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  were 
always  full ;  there  were  Ham,  Saumur,  the 
Chateau  d'lf,  Landskrona,  Pierrechatel, 
Fenestrelle,  Campiano  and  Vincennes. 
Imprisonment  depended  upon  the  will  of 
the  Emperor  alone,  and  this  arbitrary  ruler 
had  once  posed  as  the  apostle  of  universal 
freedom ! 

Discontent  was  already  rife,  although  it 
mostly  grumbled  and  rumbled  underground. 
France  chafed  bitterly  at  the  restrictions  on 
trade ;  she  was  sorely  tried  by  the  Conti- 
nental system,  and  by  the  complete  paralysis 
of  her  maritime  commerce.  Except  on  a 
few  enterprising  privateers,  the  French  flag 
was  not  seen  on  the  high  seas ;  her  har- 
bours were  filled  with  dismantled  shipping, 
rotting  from  disuse.  Far  more  bitter  was 
the  repining  at  the  conscription  which,  with 
ravening  and  unappeasable  appetite,  was 
devouring  the  youth  and  manhood  of  the 
country.  Two  facts  may  be  quoted  in 
proof  of  the  terror  and  hatred  inspired 
by  the  exigencies  of  military  service.  The 
cost  of  a  substitute  was  8000  f.,  or  £320, 
and  there  were  in  1811  80,000  conscrits 
refractaires,    men    on    whom    the    lot    had 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     349 

fallen,  but  who  had  absconded  or  were  in 
hiding  to  avoid  service.  At  this  time  a 
network  of  police-stations  covered  the  land, 
and  recruits,  those  new  candidates  for 
glory,  were  marched  to  their  garrisons 
from  point  to  point,  chained  and  under  the 
escort  of  the  gendarmes.  To  diminish  this 
increasing  number  of  absentees,  a  scheme 
was  devised  for  quartering  troops  in  the 
domiciles  of  those  families  whose  sons  had 
deserted.  This  system  was  soon  developed 
by  the  formation  of  movable  columns,  that 
terrorised  districts,  and  were  known  from 
their  exactions  as  colonnes  infernales. 
Such  were  the  means  adopted  to  raise 
the  magnificent  army  of  Russia  that  was 
doomed  to  destruction. 

Preparations  had  long  been  afoot  for  this 
gigantic  enterprise,  the  disastrous  conse- 
quences of  which  enveloped  the  daring 
spirit  that  had  planned  it  and  contributed 
largely  to  his  downfall.  The  army  which 
Napoleon  had  collected  for  the  invasion  of 
Russia  exceeded  half  a  million  of  men  :  it 
was  the  largest  armed  force  that  had  taken 
the  field  since  Xerxes  had  sent  his  myriads 
against  Greece.     Speaking   more  precisely, 


35o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

it  ^consisted  of  500,000  infantry,  100,000 
cavalry  and  1300  guns.  But  only  a  third 
of  these  numbers  were  French  ;  the  balance 
was  made  up  of  contingents  furnished  by 
all  the  subject  Powers.  It  was  formed  in 
ten  army  corps,  under  some  of  Napoleon's 
most  famous  marshals,  although  Soult, 
Marmont  and  Suchet  were  absent  in  Spain. 
The  Imperial  Guard  was  in  Napoleon's 
own  hand;  Murat,  King  of  Naples,  com- 
manded all  the  cavalry  ;  Schwartzenberg,  the 
Austrians ;  Poniatowski,  the  Poles ;  Prince 
Eugene,  the  army  of  Italy.  The  army  was 
organised  with  great  nicety  and  complete- 
ness. No  point  was  too  minute  for  the 
attention  of  the  greatest  military  adminis- 
trator the  world  has  known.  The  largest 
and  most  momentous  questions  were  dealt 
with  in  a  prescient  and  comprehensive 
spirit.  But  he  could  not,  or  would  not,  fore- 
see the  difficulties  inseparable  from  making 
war  on  such  a  gigantic  scale.  The  most 
careful  elaboration  of  machinery  was  power- 
less to  create  supplies  where  they  did  not 
exist,  and  a  prime  cause  of  his  approaching 
failure  was  the  want  of  food.  "  Qu'on  ne 
me  parle  pas  cles  vivres  "  was  a  favourite 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     351 

phrase  with  the  commander  who  first  made 
war  support  war.  He  had  not  yet  waged 
it  in  a  sterile  and  inhospitable  country, 
where  his  commissariat,  his  well-planned 
Intendance,  had  nothing  to  work  upon,  and 
he  paid  the  penalty  by  the  untold  sufferings 
of  his  army  in  that  terrible  retreat.  Some 
idea  of  that  Intendance — of  the  civil  depart- 
ments of  the  expeditionary  army — is  given 
us  by  De  Fezensac,  who  was  one  of  Berthier's 
aides-de-camp  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
campaign.  When  the  Prince  of  Neufchatel 
(Berthier)  reviewed  it  at  Wilna,  the  Intend- 
ance looked  like  an  army  in  battle  array, 
with  its  hundreds  of  high  officials  —ordonna- 
teurs,  inspecteurs  aux  revues  and  commissaires 
de  guerre;  its  hospital  services — doctors, 
surgeons  and  dispensers  ;  its  commissariat 
officers  in  every  branch  ;  its  host  of  artificers 
and  workmen.  "Yet  despite  the  Zealand 
talents  of  the  Intendant-General,"  says  the 
same  authority,  "this  enormous  department 
was  useless  from  the  beginning,  and  actually 
hurtful  at  the  end  of  the  campaign."  The 
army  was  indeed  greatly  hampered  by  its 
overgrown  camp-following ;  it  marched  with 
a  monstrous  tail  of  baggage  wagons,  pack 


63- 


LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


animals,    led   horses,    and    servants    of  all 
descriptions. 

The  French  army,  moving  gradually  for- 
ward to  the  frontier,  overflowed  Prussia, 
and  Berlin  became  a  French  garrison,  com- 
manded by  a  French  general.  The  destina- 
tion of  the  advancing  troops  was  the  Niemen, 
along  which  they  concentrated  in  the  early 
part  of  June.  Meanwhile  Napoleon  had 
summoned  his  suite  of  subject  sovereigns  to 
attend  him  at  Dresden,  and  they  came,  with 
homage  on  their  lips  and  hatred  in  their 
hearts,  to  increase  the  lustre  of  his  court. 
There  were  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the 
Kings  of  Prussia  and  Saxony,  the  royalties 
of  his  own  family  and  creation,  the  Kings  of 
Westphalia  and  Naples,  the  Viceroy  of 
Italy  and  a  crowd  of  minor  potentates. 
The  sharp  contrast  between  the  pomp  and 
pageantry  of  this  vainglorious  display  and  the 
Emperor's  return  to  Paris  seven  months 
later  has  often  struck  the  philosophic  mind. 
He  crept  back  then  to  the  Tuileries  humbly 
in  a  hackney  cab,  the  first  of  the  few  poor 
stricken  fugitives  who  alone  remained  of  his 
proud  hosts,  and  the  perishing  remnant 
whom  he  had  abandoned  in  their  misery. 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     353 

He  had  now  nearly  justified  Decres'  pre- 
diction to  Marmont :  "  You,  of  course,  are 
satisfied  because  you  have  been  made  a 
marshal.  You  see  everything  at  its  best. 
Shall  I  tell  you  the  real  truth — shall  I 
unveil  the  future  ?  The  Emperor  is  mad, 
quite  mad.  He  will  ruin  us  all,  many  as 
we  are,  and  everything  will  end  in  a  fright- 
ful catastrophe." 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  invasion  it 
seemed  all  plain  sailing,  except  for  the 
scarcity  of  supplies,  and  this,  as  has  been 
said,  did  not  trouble  Napoleon.  Yet  it  was 
a  part  of  the  enemy's  plan  to  lay  waste  their 
own  country  and  retire  into  the  depths  of 
Russia.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
moral  effect  of  Wellington's  retreat  upon 
Torres  Vedras  was  felt  even  by  the  Czar 
Alexander,  and  that  he  readily  accepted  the 
advice  tendered  him  by  the  Swedish  General, 
Armfeldt,  to  play  the  same  waiting  game. 
It  is  stated,  rather  loosely,  that  this  plan 
was  more  accidental  than  deliberately  con- 
ceived, that  the  retreat  before  the  advancing 
French  was  inevitable,  and  not  a  ruse  de 
guerre.  At  the  same  time  the  continued 
retreat    was    most     distasteful     to     many 


354  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

Russians ;  although  its  wisdom  was  ac- 
knowledged and  approved  by  the  higher 
strategists,  the  army  and  the  nation  wanted 
to  fight,  and  were  greatly  disheartened  by 
these  long  retrograde  movements.  But 
Alexander's  intentions  were  known  and  re- 
vealed the  year  previous,  as  early  as  July 
1811,  when  Almquist,  the  French  Minister 
at  Stockholm,  reported  them  to  Napoleon, 
but  in  vain.  The  Emperor  would  not  be 
warned.  He  thought  to  practise  the 
strategy  of  his  earlier  wars  ;  to  pour  his 
mammoth  legions  into  Russia  with  the  old 
lightning-like  promptitude  ;  to  dictate  terms 
in  Moscow  after  a  short  month  of  dazzling 
victories,  as  he  had  done  already  in  Turin, 
Milan,  Vienna  and  Berlin. 

Now  when  the  die  was  cast  and  the 
opponents  stood  facing  each  other,  the  Czar's 
forces,  although  he  had  long  expected  war, 
fell  short  of  his  enemy's.  He  had  barely 
200y000  men  against  the  400,000  who 
crossed  the  Niemen  in  the  latter  end  of 
June  1812.  The  Russians  had  three  armies 
in  the  field.  The  first,  under  Barclay  de 
Tolly,  100,000  infantry  and  30,000  cavalry, 
watched  the  Niemen  north  of  Wilna;  the 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     355 

second,    under    Bagration,   50,000    infantry 
and    12,000    cavalry,    was   to   the  south  of 
Bresenc,    on    the   Bug;    the    third,   under 
Tournaseff,     40,000     infantry    and     14,000 
cavalry,  was  still  further  south  in  Volhynia. 
Napoleon's  first   movements  were  rapid. 
He   got   six   corps   across   the  Niemen,  at 
Kovno  and  Grodno,  on  June  24 ;  one  other 
corps   crossed   at   Tilsit   to  cover   the   left 
flank ;  two  more  at  Bresenc,  on  the  Bug,  to 
operate  on  the  right.     He  was  at  Wilna  in 
strength  four  days  later,  and  had  succeeded 
in  striking  in  between  the  first  and  second 
Russian  armies,  his  object  being  to  separate 
and  keep  them  apart.     At  his  advance  the 
first  fell  back  to   the  entrenched  camp  of 
Drissa,  and  then   to  Polotsk,  both  on  the 
Dwina.     Bagration,  with  the  second   army, 
reached  Bobinsk,  on  the  Beresina,  pursued, 
but  only  slowly,  by  Jerome  Bonaparte. 

The  French  now  halted  seventeen  days 
at  Wilna.  Their  leader  was  no  longer  the 
vigorous  conqueror  of  Italy,  the  victor  of 
Austerlitz,  Jena,  Friedland,  Wagram.  He 
has  here  all  the  old  strategical  advantages  of 
a  central  position  from  which  he  might  turn 
superior  numbers  to  overwhelm  the  enemy's 


356         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

fractions,  but  he  fails  to  seize  them.  He  is 
engaged  with  Polish  delegates,  who  urge 
him  to  reconstitute  their  kingdom ;  with 
balls  and  fetes ;  with  visionary  hopes  that 
negotiations  may  turn  towards  peace.  Yet 
the  season  is  drawing  on ;  it  is  a  far  cry  to 
Moscow,  and  he  can  hardly  prevent  the 
concentration  of  the  Russian  armies,  while 
his  own  is  already  dwindling  away ;  sick, 
stragglers,  and  marauders  have  reduced  it 
now  to  300,000  men. 

On  July  12,  Davoust,  who  had  superseded 
Jerome,  continued  to  press  Bagration  more 
actively.  Combats  ensued,  but  in  the  end 
the  Russians  were  driven  behind  the  Dnieper. 
Four  days  later  Napoleon  moved  from  Wilna 
to  Glubokoe,  meaning  to  turn  Barclay's  left ; 
but  Barclay  was  gone,  retiring  on  Vitebsk. 
Napoleon  followed,  reaching  Vitebsk  on  July 
27,  and  here  he  hoped  to  engage.  But  again 
the  Russians  fell  back,  now  to  Smolensko, 
where  the  two  armies,  Barclay's  and  Ba- 
gration's,  effected  a  junction  on  August  3, 
and  Napoleon's  advantage  ceased. 

There  was  some  fighting  now,  both  on  the 
right  and  the  left,  without  decisive  results ; 
and  the  main  Russian  army  in  the  centre 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     357 

advanced  from  Smolensko  against  Napoleon, 
who  hoped,  by  crossing  the  Dnieper  and 
taking  them  in  the  rear,  to  bring  on  a  great 
battle.  But  again  the  Russians  eluded  him, 
barely  in  time  to  save  Smolensko,  then  con- 
tinued their  retreat  towards  Moscow.  It 
was  here  at  Smolensko,  as  previously  at 
Vitebsk,  that  Napoleon  showed  much  doubt 
and  uneasiness.  He  had  effected  nothing  as 
yet :  there  had  been  no  dazzling  successes ; 
his  army  already  suffered,  and  was  out  of 
hand  ;  he  had  left  doubtful  friends  and  dis- 
affection in  his  rear ;  the  season  was  fast 
drawing  on.  He  hesitated  to  advance 
further,  and  yet  went  forward. 

The  battle  for  which  he  pined  became 
possible  at  last,  and  was  fought  at  Borodino. 
Public  clamour  in  Russia  had  so  loudly  de- 
nounced the  policy  of  retreat  that  a  change 
was  made  in  commanders.  Kutusoff,  a 
general  advanced  in  years,  replaced  Barclay 
de  Tolly,  and  his  orders  were  to  stand  his 
ground.  Kutusoff  took  up  a  strong  position 
covering  Moscow,  where  the  French  attacked 
him  on  September  6,  and  the  great  battle 
was  fought  with  immense  carnage,  yet 
doubtful     results.       Napoleon     had     been 


358         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

pressed  to  throw  all  his  weight  upon  the 
Russian  left,  but  he  hesitated  to  use  up  his 
last  reserves  for  that  purpose  on  the  sound 
plea  that  he  was  2500  miles  from  home. 
Had  he  been  the  general  of  early  days  he 
would  have  risked  more  and  achieved  more  ; 
as  it  was,  the  Russians  withdrew  to  a 
second  position,  and  then  retired  on  and 
through  Moscow,  which  Napoleon  occupied 
on  September  15. 

It  was  an  empty  conquest.  The  ancient 
capital  of  All  the  Russias  was  a  howling 
wilderness,  deserted  by  its  inhabitants,  sac- 
rificed by  Kutusoff,  who  preferred  to  keep 
his  army  intact.  Now  followed  the  con- 
flagration, the  firing  of  the  city,  the  deliberate 
project  of  its  Governor,  Rostopchin,  although 
the  work  was  completed  by  incendiaries 
Moscow  wras  a  ruin  still  smoking,  a  grim 
object-lesson  for  Napoleon  of  the  unyielding 
character  of  his  foe.  He  found  the  same 
disposition  in  the  chief  of  the  State,  even 
now  with  the  French  in  his  capital ;  the 
Czar  Alexander  refused  to  treat,  and 
Napoleon  was  called  upon  to  make  a  mo- 
mentous decision.  He  was  faced  with  a 
terrible  problem  :  if  he  held  his  ground,  it 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     *6 


would  be  with  no  hope  of  supplying  his 
army  during  the  dread  winter  now  near  at 
hand  ;  if  he  retreated,  he  admitted  his  failure 
before  all  the  world. 

On  October  19  he  began  the  famous 
retreat,  more  fruitful  in  human  suffering, 
more  destructive  of  life,  than  anything  of  its 
kind  known.  The  day  previous  Napoleon 
held  a  great  review  in  the  Kremlin,  where 
his  starving  troops,  with  the  finest  soldierly 
spirit,  turned  out  as  if  on  parade  in  Paris. 
But  their  shrunken  numbers  told  the  plain 
story,  and  eye-witnesses  declare  that  the 
Emperor's  overwhelming  anxieties  were 
visible  on  his  face.  The  direction  of 
Napoleon's  march  was  now  southward,  to 
gain  the  richer  and  unexhausted  country, 
but  the  Russians,  now  greatly  reinforced, 
were  waiting  for  him,  and  after  a  struggle  at 
Malo-  Jaroslawitz,  turned  them  off  that  road 
on  to  the  old  line  by  Smolensko,  which 
they  reached  on  November  9.  Already  the 
French  had  lost  all  semblance  of  an  army. 
The  march  across  the  vast  plains  was  like 
that  of  an  Eastern  caravan.  Miles  and 
miles  of  vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  droskies 
and  common  carts  among  wagons,  and  the 


362  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

most  elegant  carriages,  all  charged  with 
food,  for  every  man  had  to  fend  for  himself. 
It  was  hoped  that  rations  would  be  found 
at  Smolensko ;  it  had  been  one  of  the  great 
advance  depots,  and  the  troops  would  have 
rushed  in  to  help  themselves.  Napoleon  in 
person  occupied  the  town  with  his  Imperial 
Guard,  who  were  well  supplied,  but  the 
collapse  of  the  Intendance  prevented  any 
regular  issue  to  the  rest,  and  there  was  great 
confusion,  which  was  ended  in  a  general 
pillage,  when  the  food  for  months  was 
wasted  in  a  few  hours. 

After  Smolensko,  the  French  army,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Imperial  Guard,  was 
completely  disorganised,  but  Napoleon,  after 
fighting  an  action  at  Krasnoi  to  clear  his 
road,  retired  on  Orcha,  leaving  Ney  with 
the  3rd  corps  as  a  rearguard.  The  intrepid 
and  skilful  general  brought  in  his  force  to 
Orcha  on  November  20,  sadly  diminished 
after  many  fierce  combats  and  in  passage 
of  the  Dnieper  across  ice.  By  this  time  the 
grand  army  was  reduced  from  250,000  to 
10,000  men,  and  had  Kutusoff  been  smarter 
at  Krasnoi,  he  would  probably  have  sur- 
rounded   the    Imperial    Guard   and    made 


oo      5 


THE  INVASION  OF  RUSSIA     365 

Napoleon  prisoner.  But  now,  on  November 
23,  two  French  corps  that  bad  held  the 
Dwina  joined,  and  raised  the  whole  force 
to  numbers  variously  stated  at  from  18,000 
to  20,000  men. 

Napoleon  now  made  for  the  Beresina 
River,  which  he  crossed  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy.  It  was  a  masterly  operation, 
but  entailed  a  frightful  loss  of  life,  largely 
from  the  severity  of  the  weather.  Throwing 
three  bridges  across  above  Borisow,  he 
passed  three  corps  to  the  right  bank,  under 
cover  of  a  fourth  on  the  left.  Those  across 
fought  a  defensive  action  while  the  whole 
were  gradually  withdrawn,  and  the  retreat 
was  continued  on  Wilna,  which  was  reached 
on  December  9.  But  Napoleon  had  himself 
left  the  shattered  remnant  of  his  forces 
at  Smorgoni  on  the  6th,  and  hurried  off 
to  Paris  post-haste.  He  must  make  head 
now  against  this  stupendous  disaster,  which 
clearly  imperilled  his  throne.  It  was  not 
the  only  misfortune  in  this  terrible  year. 
The  news  of  Wellington's  victory  at  Sala- 
manca reached  him  on  the  night  of  Boro- 
dino, with  the  reoccupation  of  Madrid. 
Now,    too,    his    lukewarm    allies    quickly 


366         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

abandoned  him.  The  Prussian  army  went 
over  to  the  Russians,  en  masse;  the  Aus- 
trian corps  under  Schwartzenberg  made 
a  separate  peace  with  the  Russians,  and 
retired  to  Austrian  territory.  These,  with 
Macdonald's  corps,  had  not  been  engaged, 
and  so  had  escaped  the  general  catastrophe, 
but  the  total  losses  of  Napoleon's  army  have 
been  estimated  at  half  a  million  of  men. 


CHAPTER  XI 


NAPOLEON  AT   BAY— 1812-1  81  3 

FTER  his  terrible  over- 
throw in  Russia  there  was 
something  noble  and 
pathetic  in  the  firm 
attitude  displayed  by 
Napoleon.  It  has  been 
said  that  a  good  man 
struggling  with  adver- 
sity is  a  sight  for  the  gods.  Napoleon  was 
not  a  good  man — far  from  it ;  he  was  a 
monster  and  a  scourge.  Yet  his  desperate 
and  tenacious  efforts  to  retrieve  disaster 
command  admiration  and  respect.  The 
waters  might  be  closing  over  him,  but  he 
would  still  fight  hard  for  life.  We  almost 
367 


368  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

forget  that  the  mainsprings  of  this  pro- 
longed resistance  were  pride  and  vain- 
glory ;  rather  than  accept  peace  without 
new  victories  he  would  continue  the  war 
at  all  hazards  and  at  all  costs.  He  held 
life  too  cheaply  to  hesitate ;  he  was  ready 
to  make  any  sacrifices  to  re-establish  his 
power.  Hecatombs  had  been  slain  to  create 
it,  more  would  be  poured  out  to  maintain  it. 
Now  the  very  last  man  should  be  spent  to 
save  him.  "  I  grew  up  in  the  field/'  he  told 
Metternich,  "and  a  man  like  me  troubles 
himself  little  about  the  lives  of  a  million  of 
men."  France  was  nearly  exhausted  already, 
but  he  was  resolved  to  drain  her  to  the  last 
drop.  His  first  act  on  his  return  to  Paris  in 
December  1812  was  to  organise  a  fresh  army 
out  of  the  sparse  materials  to  hand. 

Never  in  the  whole  course  of  his  active 
and  eventful  career  did  Napoleon  show  to 
greater  advantage  than  now,  when  on  the 
brink  of  despair.  His  labours  during  that 
winter  were  almost  superhuman,  and  were 
concentrated  upon  the  organisation  of  his 
new  levies.  They  numbered  350,000,  and 
included  men  left  on  previous  conscrip- 
tions, the  first  line  of  the  National  Guard. 


*        •    •>  • 


NAPOLEON 
{From  the  Engraving  by  C.  H.  Hodges) 


2  A 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY 


3/ 


Several  fine  regiments  of  marine  artillery 
were  incorporated  with  the  infantry  of  the 
line,  and  large  bodies  of  seasoned  veterans 
of  the  Young  Guard  were  withdrawn  from 
the  contest  in  Spain.  France,  in  spite  of 
her  bereavement,  was  eager  to  wipe  out 
the  memory  of  recent  defeats,  and  moved 
by  real  patriotism  rather  than  flattery  or 
fear,  willingly  seconded  Napoleon.  The 
great  cities  voluntarily  supplied  contingents 
of  men  and  horses.  Ten  thousand  youths 
equipped  themselves  at  their  own  charges 
to  form  a  reserve  of  cavalry.  All  these 
forces  were  manipulated  with  the  skill  and 
energy  of  the  great  master-hand.  Four 
great  corps  of  observation  were  formed 
upon  the  Rhine,  in  Illyria  and  on  the  Elbe, 
to  which  the  various  units  were  directed 
as  they  were  raised,  there  to  be  organised, 
drilled  and  trained.  Good  officers  were 
luckily  not  wanting ;  3000  officers  and  sous 
officiers  were  transferred  from  the  gendar- 
merie to  the  line ;  a  good  proportion  of 
experienced  officers  had  escaped  from  the 
horrors  of  the  Russian  retreats ;  many  of 
the  best  leaders  were  still  in  command, 
although  the  necessity  for  extensive  pro- 


372  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

motions  to  fill  gaps  had  advanced  a  number 
of  subordinate  Generals  little  accustomed 
to  handling  large  bodies  of  men.  The  great 
dearth  was  in  horses ;  so  many  had  been 
used,  and  the  supply  was  limited.  For  the 
same  reason,  Napoleon's  new  cavalry  was 
of  a  low  standard.  It  is  an  arm  that  can- 
not be  improvised  ;  the  training  of  both 
men  and  horses  takes  time. 

The  result  of  these  extraordinary  efforts 
was  the  appearance  of  a  new  army  as  if  by 
magic  in  the  spring.  It  numbered  140,000 
men,  and  was  posted  towards  the  end  of 
April  1813  from  the  Rhine  towards  the 
Saale.  Prince  Eugene,  with  the  remains 
of  the  grand  army,  some  40,000  men,  was 
more  advanced,  and  held  the  Elbe,  be- 
tween Magdeburg,  Dessau  and  Torgau. 
Napoleon's  point,  his  "principal  objective," 
was  Dresden,  where  his  two  chief  enemies, 
the  allied  monarchs  of  Prussia  and  Russia, 
held  their  headquarters,  but  in  a  country 
that  was  supposed  to  be  friendly  to  the 
French.  Their  positions  were  very  scat- 
tered, their  numbers  inferior,  for  neither 
of  the  Allies  had  the  means  nor  the  ability 
of  their  great  adversary. 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  373 

Russia  was  gathering  up  slowly  the  re- 
inforcements needed  to  replace  the  inroads 
of  1812.  Prussia  had  splendid  reserves 
under  the  system  introduced  after  Jena, 
when  she  had  been  forbidden  to  keep  a 
large  army  on  a  war  footing,  but  all  these 
were  not  brought  into  line.  At  this  time 
their  forces  in  the  field  numbered  133,000 
with  30,000  good  cavalry  included.  About 
half  of  these  were  Russians  under  Witt- 
genstein, who  watched  the  Elbe  about 
Dresden  ;  Bliicher,  with  25,000  Prussians, 
was  in  Silesia  ;  the  rest  were  near  Magde- 
burg or  in  Berlin. 

As  the  spring  advanced,  the  Allies  entered 
Dresden,  and,  for  the  moment,  gained  the 
Saxons  to  the  coalition  ;  then,  having  con- 
centrated, they  advanced  beyond  Leipsic, 
meaning  to  take  the  offensive  against  the 
French  line  of  communications.  Wittgen- 
stein was  quite  unconscious  that  he  had  a 
new  and  numerous  French  army  in  his 
front,  and  was  caught  on  the  move. 
Napoleon,  who  was  at  Erfurt  on  April 
28,  was  marching  forward  in  strength 
on  May  2,  and  fell  in  with  Wittgenstein's 
advance    guard    at    Liitzen.     The    French 


374  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

were  scattered  along  the  line  of  march, 
for  their  inefficient  cavalry  had  given  no 
warning  of  the  enemy's  approach.  Ney, 
with  the  3rd  corps,  was  at  first  severely 
handled,  but  was  soon  strengthened,  and  the 
fight  became  general.  At  6  p.m.  Napoleon 
had  lost  ground,  but  just  before  nightfall 
he  had  recovered  the  key  of  the  position 
with  the  Young  Guard.  The  victory  re- 
mained with  him,  although  it  was  indecisive 
from  the  want  of  cavalry  to  pursue,  but  it 
raised  the  spirits  of  the  young  conscripts 
and  revived  confidence  after  the  late  re- 
verses in  Russia. 

Now  the  Allies  fell  back  towards  the 
Elbe,  and  Napoleon  entered  Dresden,  where 
the  King  of  Saxony,  deserting  the  coalition, 
joined  him.  Meanwhile,  Ney  had  reached 
Torgau,  lower  down  the  Elbe,  and  being 
ordered  to  rejoin  Napoleon,  had  moved  by 
the  farther  or  eastern  bank,  where  he  was 
attacked  en  route.  This  brought  on  the 
battle  of  Bautzen,  in  which  the  Allies 
occupied  a  strong  position  behind  the  river 
Spree.  Napoleon,  who  was  in  greatly 
superior  numbers,  made  a  great  flanking 
movement  with  sixty  thousand  men  under 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  375 

Ney,  while  the  rest  attacked  the  front. 
Ney's  march  was  successful,  and  obliged 
the  enemy  to  retire,  but  they  did  so  in 
unbroken  formation  ;  for  the  French  cavalry 
were  checked  by  the  Russian,  and  could 
make  no  impression.  The  fighting  lasted 
through  two  days,  May  20  and  21,  and 
at  the  end  the  Allies  withdrew  worsted 
to  the  Oder.  An  armistice  was  now  signed 
and  hostilities  were  suspended. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  Napoleon 
might  now  have  rehabilitated  himself  com- 
pletely. The  recent  successes  of  Liitzen 
and  Bautzen  had  in  a  measure  retrieved 
his  position  and  raised  him  from  the  Slough 
of  Despond.  There  was  no  strong  bond 
of  union  between  his  enemies.  Russians 
and  Prussians  were  bickering,  blaming  each 
other  for  the  late  defeats.  Austria  was  still 
wavering,  having  no  prepossessions  for  the 
coalition,  yet  not  definitely  disposed  to 
support  Napoleon.  She  needed  humouring, 
asked  for  concessions  that  Napoleon  might 
have  granted  but  still  would  not,  declaring 
that  it  would  discredit  him  at  home.  Peace 
seemed  abhorrent  to  him  on  these  terms. 
Much  as  it  was  longed  for  by  his  troops, 


376  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

and  especially  by  many  of  his  marshals, 
who  were  sick  to  death  of  war,  he  would 
make  no  peace  until  he  had  driven  his 
enemies  from  the  field.  Nothing  less,  he 
argued,  would  re-establish  him  permanently 
in  France.  He  was  a  gambler  playing  his 
last  stakes,  and  reckoning  still  upon  his 
superior  knowledge  of  the  game.  Might 
not  his  generals  yet  save  him  by  one  or 
two  masterly  strokes,  backed  by  good  for- 
tune, as  of  old  ?  Yet  a  less  superstitious 
man  might  have  begun  to  think  even  now 
that  his  luck  had  turned,  that  he  had  better 
compound  with  it  and  not  affront  it  further. 
Recent  events  showed  that  it  had  not  de- 
serted him  entirely,  but  the  very  nearness 
of  the  better  fortune  that  still  proved  elusive 
might  be  taken  as  a  sign  that  his  star  was 
declining. 

So  he  made  no  effort  to  win  Austria,  but 
offered  her  only  preposterous  and  impossible 
terms.  In  the  end  she  joined  the  coalition, 
bringing  it  a  very  notable  accession  of 
strength — an  army  of  130,000  men,  as  yet 
fresh  and  untouched  in  recent  campaigns. 
In  the  new  campaign  now  imminent  the 
Allies  were  the  strongest ;  they  had  half  a 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  379 

million  of  men  in  the  field,  and  the  French 
not  much  more  than  half  that  number.  But 
Napoleon  held  his  force  compactly  together 
in  a  central  position,  while  the  Allies  had 
three  separate  armies  in  the  field,  and  were 
not,  like  the  French,  controlled  by  a  single 
imperious  master-mind.  There  was  the 
army  of  Bohemia,  240,000,  under  Schwart- 
zenberg;  that  of  Silesia,  under  Blucher, 
95,000  ;  and,  lastly,  Bernadotte,  now  King 
of  Sweden,  was  at  Berlin  with  90,000  more. 
Besides  these,  two  smaller  corps  were 
opposite  Hamburg  and  Dantzic ;  others 
watched  the  Bavarians  and  Italy  ;  while  the 
Eussian  reserve,  50,000  men,  under  Ben- 
ningsen,  was  at  Kalisch,  and  came  up  later 
in  support.  Nor  did  these  numbers  exhaust 
the  allied  resources,  for  there  were  reserves 
untouched  in  the  second  and  third  lines. 

Napoleon,  who  held  the  strong  places  of 
the  Elbe,  confronted  his  foes  with  three 
main  bodies.  Oudinot,  with  three  corps, 
watched  Berlin  from  in  front  of  Torgau  ; 
Macdonald,  with  four,  was  in  Silesia,  op- 
posing Blucher ;  he  himself,  in  the  centre, 
watched  Bohemia  with  four  corps  and  the 
guard.    One  corps  of  cavalry  was  at  Leipsic, 


8o         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 


the   other   three  with   the   Silesian  forces. 
His  plan  had  been  to  send  Oudinot  against 
Berlin,  while  he  held  Blucher  in  check  on 
the  side  of  Silesia,  and  Schwartzenberg  on 
that  of  Bohemia,  a  new  danger  following 
Austria's  defection.      The   first   movement 
was  well  begun  and  promised  great  things 
indeed,  for  the  capture  of  Berlin  would  have 
been  a  serious  blow  to  the  coalition.     But 
now  Napoleon,  who  was  with  Macdonald 
in  Silesia,  heard  that  Schwartzenberg  had 
advanced,  and,  crossing  the  frontier  range 
of  Bohemia,  was  aiming  at  Dresden,  the 
central    point    of    Napoleon's     system    of 
defence.     He  left  Macdonald,  therefore,  to 
"  contain "  Blticher,   to   prevent   him  from 
moving  to  right  or  left  against  Oudinot,  or 
to  reinforce  Schwartzenberg,  and  retraced 
his  steps,  hoping  to  fight  a  decisive  action. 
He    thought    Dresden,    which    had    been 
fortified,   could   hold   out  some  days,  and 
he    meant   to    fall  upon    Schwartzenberg's 
rear.     Then  Gouvion  St  Cyr  sent  to  say  he 
could  not  defend  Dresden  with  a  garrison 
of  children ;  and  Napoleon  hurried  thither 
with  two  cavalry  and  three  infantry  corps, 
leaving   Vandamme   at   the   mouth  of  the 


NAPOLEON 
{After  Charlet) 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  383 

Bohemian  mountain-passes,  where  he  was 
to  fall  upon  the  enemy  retreating — after 
defeat — for  Napoleon  confidently  counted 
on  a  great  victory. 

Schwartzenberg  had  reached  Dresden  on 
August  25,  but  hesitated  to  attack  at 
once,  as  all  his  corps  had  not  come  up. 
Napoleon  arrived  next  morning  at  9  am., 
and,  as  usual,  his  mere  presence  changed 
the  situation.  His  sagacity  in  perceiving 
the  right  course,  his  promptitude  in  carry- 
ing it  out,  brought  him  now  at  the  critical 
moment  to  the  decisive  point.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Allies  were  fixed  and 
hampered  by  divided  counsels,  for  their 
camp  was  crowded  with  Emperors,  Kings 
and  Ministers,  all  of  whom  argued  and 
interfered  with  action ;  and  the  attack, 
ordered  for  that  day,  August  26,  was 
countermanded  when  news  came  of  Napo- 
leon's presence  in  Dresden,  and  yet  was 
made  in  a  desultory  fashion  that  ended 
in  a  costly  repulse.  Next  day,  August  27, 
Napoleon  took  the  initiative,  and  attacked 
both  flanks  of  the  allied  position,  which  was 
on  the  heights  south  of  the  Elbe  but  faultily 
occupied.    Their  mass  was  about  the  centre, 


384  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

their  left  at  some  distance,  much  isolated 
and  with  a  gap  in  the  line.  Murat  was 
charged  with  this  attack,  and  while  his 
infantry  assailed  the  front,  his  cavalry, 
penetrating  by  the  gap,  overflowed  the 
rear.  The  Austrians  soon  broke  and  fled. 
Then  Napoleon  sent  his  left  forward  under 
Ney  against  the  Russians,  who  fought 
stubbornly,  but  were  presently  driven  from 
the  field.  In  the  centre  the  battle  was  no 
more  than  an  artillery  duel.  Torrents  of 
rain  fell  during  the  action,  which  broke  up 
the  roads  and  greatly  impeded  the  retreat 
of  the  beaten  army.  It  had  been  Napoleon's 
aim  to  cut  it  off  from  the  road  to  Freyburg 
on  one  side  and  Pirna  on  the  other,  thus 
forcing  it  into  the  difficult  country  where 
Vandamme  was  in  waiting  to  destroy  it. 

The  army  of  Bohemia  was  now  in  full 
retreat,  .  and  in  the  direction  Napoleon 
wished,  his  columns  in  hot  pursuit.  On 
the  morning  after  the  battle,  August  28, 
he  had  established  the  Imperial  Head- 
quarters at  Pirna,  whence  he  could  direct 
in  person  the  decisive  operations  that  must 
soon  deliver  the  enemy  into  his  hands.  He 
must   almost   infallibly  have  captured   the 


^jnirsmt 
isthaTTTS" 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  385 

two  Emperors — of  Austria  and  Eussia — 
and  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  the  triumph 
must  have  gone  far  to  re-establish  his 
prestige.  And  yet  now  he  lost  it  all — the 
last  and  perhaps  the  greatest,  at  least  the 
most  momentous  chance  of  his  life.  Sud- 
denly he  relinquished  the  personal  comnYand 
anjjvjonj^mck  to  Dresdem  V arious reasons 
have  heenoffe"re(l [for  this  abandonment  of 


pursuit  that  promised  him  so  much.  One 
iiad  received  i5aol  accounts  from 
Silesia,  where,  in  truth,  Macdormld  had 
been  grievously  JmnxUed — by  "Rliirhrr  pp 
August  2t> ;  another  that  he  thought  he 
HtiffkLor^anise  an  attack  which  would  secure 
him  Berlin,  for  the  news  of  Oudinot's  reverse"- 
at  Grosbeeren  had  not  yet  arrived.  The 
third — the  most  probable,  and  that  generally 
accepted  now — is  that  he  was  seized  with  a 
strange my^te4iuusillness,the  first  symptoms 
of  the  malady  that  Killed  him.  De  Fezensac 
says  that  he  had  breakfasted  as  usual  on 
August  28,  and  was  reviewing  the  troops  as 
they  passed  on  in  pursuit,  when  he  was 
seized  with  violent  internal  pains.  It  was 
thought  at  first  that  he  had  been  poisoned. 
Whatever  the  cause,  his  mental  and  physical 

2  B 


386         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

prostration  was  such  that  he  was  unfit  for 
duty,  and  now,  at  the  critical  moment, 
became  suddenly  an  altered  man.  The 
breakdown  was,  after  all,  intelligible.  On 
the  day  he  reached  Dresden  he  had  been 
drenched  to  the  skin,  yet  he  made  all  his 
dispositions  for  the  fight  without  changing 
his  clothes,  and  again  during  the  battle 
was  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  elements. 
It  may  be  well  believed,  too,  that  the  mental 
strain  of  anxieties,  weighty  enough  to  crush 
a  dozen,  was  beginning  to  tell  upon  this 
extraordinary  man,  and  that  nerve  ex- 
haustion helped  to  develop  disease. 

Undoubtedly  now  the  luck  had  turned. 
Here  its  last  great  prize  had  slipped  away 
from  causes  that  defied  prevision.  From 
now  henceforward  Napoleon  encountered 
almost  unbroken  misfortune.  His  great 
military  genius  flickered  up  once  again  for 
the  defence  of  France  in  1814,  and  with  so 
bright  a  flame,  that  this  campaign  is  held 
up  as  one  of  the  finest  illustrations  of  war, 
but  for  the  rest  of  this  year,  1813,  he  ex- 
perienced nothing  but  defeat,  Blow  followed 
blow,  each  with  more  destructive  effect, 
limiting  his  power  of  resistance.    The  battles 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  387 

on  the  Katzbach,  and  at  Grosbeeren,  had 
actually  preceded  the  victory  at  Dresden. 
Immediately  afterwards  came  Vandamme's 
overthrow  by  the  army  he  was  supposed 
to  intercept,  for  the  pursuit  had  relaxed 
after  Napoleon  left,  and  the  Allies  continued 
their  retreat  more  leisurely  and  in  good 
order.  On  the  29th  Vandamme  attacked 
the  Kussian  Guards  at  Toplitz  and  was 
driven  back  ;  next  day  they  attacked  him 
in  position  at  Culm,  and,  being  in  great 
strength,  all  but  destroyed  him.  Nor  was 
this  all.  After  Oudinot's  defeat  by  Berna- 
dotte,  Napoleon  had  given  Ney  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  North,  and  desired  to 
again  threaten  Berlin,  but  he  was  met  by 
Bernadotte  at  Dennewitz  on  September  6, 
and  completely  defeated.  The  causes  of 
these  repeated  disasters  were  not  far  to 
seek.  They  have  been  largely,  and,  no 
doubt,  rightly  attributed  to  the  care  with 
which  collision  with  Napoleon  in  person 
was  avoided,  and  attacks  made  on  his 
marshals  when  without  his  guidance.  If 
the  Emperor  was  in  the  field,  the  enemy 
retired  before  him.  When  he  moved  to 
another   sphere  of  operations,   or  when  a 


388         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

marshal  was  detached  alone,  issue  was 
joined,  with  the  result  we  have  seen.  Thus 
Napoleon,  in  spite  of  his  personal  activity, 
failed  in  bringing  on  the  great  battles  and 
decisive  victories  he  sought  and  expected. 
This  was  the  counsel  given  by  Moreau,  now 
in  the  Russian  service,  and  by  Jomini,  the 
great  writer  on  war.  It  was  followed  when 
Bliicher  in  Silesia,  having  driven  the  French 
across  the  Bober,  retired  on  the  approach 
of  Napoleon.  When  Napoleon  started  for 
Dresden,  Bliicher  again  advanced,  and  won 
the  battle  of  the  Katzbach.  Napoleon  re- 
turned, Bliicher  withdrew ;  and  again,  a 
third  time,  the  Prussian  general  did  the 
same.  Schwartzenberg  advanced  on  Dres- 
den, thinking  Napoleon  occupied  in  Silesia. 
The  loss  of  that  battle  convinced  the  Allies 
that  their  system  of  retreat  was  wise.  Three 
times  Schwartzenberg  fell  back  at  the 
approach  of  the  Emperor.  Vandamme, 
Oudinot,  Ney — all  were  defeated  in  the 
absence  of  Napoleon. 

Yet  this  explanation  is  not  altogether 
sufficient,  for  the  French  marshals  were 
surely  not  inferior  to  the  generals  who  thus 
beat  them.     They  were  as  good  men,  yes — 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  389 

as  expert  leaders  in  the  field  ;  but  they  had 
no  heart  in  the  business  :  they  would  not 
work  together,  their  jealousies  and  constant 
quarrels  did  infinite  injury  to  the  common 
cause.  Napoleon  complained  often  of  their 
lack  of  confidence  in  themselves  and  in 
their  troops.  All  wanted  him  with  them 
to  enforce  their  orders  and  infuse  energy 
in  all  ranks.  Ney  found  command  most 
irksome,  and  after  Dennewitz  said  he  would 
rather  be  a  simple  grenadier.  The  morale 
of  his  generals,  of  all  his  officers,  was  gone. 
His  colleagues  subordinate  to  him  would 
not  obey  his  orders.  "  I  am  tired  of  re- 
peating that  it  is  impossible  to  make  General 
Reynier  do  what  he  is  told.  I  beg  that  either 
he  or  I  may  be  removed, "  Ney  wrote  on 
September  23.  Macdonald,  after  the  Katz- 
bach,  complained  that  he  tried  his  hardest, 
but  was  neither  seconded  nor  imitated.  No 
concerted  action  could  be  carried  out,  no 
combinations  made  under  such  conditions  ; 
operations  failed,  movements  were  retarded, 
because  orders  were  misunderstood  or 
openly  defied.  We  have  thus  in  Germany 
the  same  fatal  consequences  from  these 
dissensions  as  in  Spain. 


390         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

But  there  was  yet  another  cause,  and 
that  was  the  inferior  quality  of  the  fight- 
ing machine.  At  Wagram,  as  far  back  as 
1809,  Napoleon  said  he  no  longer  com- 
manded the  soldiers  of  Austerlitz.  The 
armjL^of_1813  was  far  worse  than  that  of 
1809.  The  places  of  the  veterans  who  had 
fallen  wholesale  in  Russia  were  now  largely 
filled  with  mere  striplings — brave  lads,  no 
doubt,  who  were  capable  of  fine  feats  ;  but 
their  enthusiasm  was  short-lived,  and  they 
were  physically  unequal  to  the  hardships  of 
a  prolonged  campaign.  With  constitutions 
still  unformed,  and  wanting  in  the  patient 
hardihood  of  old  soldiers,  they  broke  down 
under  the  combined  effects  of  hunger, 
fatigue  and  persistently  inclement  weather  ; 
they  were  easily  discouraged,  and  fought 
badly  against  older  and  more  seasoned 
troops,  while  the  want  of  subsistence 
brought  on  marauding  and  so  much  mis- 
conduct that  the  French  army  was  rapidly 
becoming  disorganised  before  the  end  came 
at  Leipsic. 

It  is  recorded  of  Napoleon  that,  as  the 
waters  closed  over  him,  he  displayed  un- 
wonted patience;  an  unwearied  dignity  and 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  391 

constancy  that  deserved  the  highest  respect. 
He  neyerxe-proached  his_dejeated  marshals, 
but  took  their_Jai1nrpg  a?  part  ^f  thp  had 

In  file    that   hfl.nnt.ad- him,    nnH    foncrflvp    fhpm 

even  their  faults.  When  they  quarrelled, 
he  interposed  with  almost  paternal  kind- 
ness, and  reconciled  them  without  wound- 
ing their  feelings.  "He  calmed  the  irrita- 
tion of  one,  revived  the  courage  of  another, 
reminded  a  third  that  a  soldier  must  obey 
orders,  a  fourth  that  he  must  treat  his 
subordinates  well."  Ney  and  Macdonald 
retained  their  commands  ;  Oudinot  was  put 
at  the  head  of  the  Young  Guard.  It  was 
a  time  to  close  the  ranks  around  him,  to 
keep  his  adherents  together,  to  lose  the  help 
of  none.  The  French  army  was  already 
reduced  to  half  its  numbers.  The  allied 
forces  were  gaining  ground  on  every  side. 
Bernadotte,  with  his  Army  of  the  North, 
was  across  the  Elbe ;  so  was  that  of  Silesia; 
that  of  Sch wartzen berg  was  moving  on  Frey- 
burg,  to  strike  at  the  communications.  It 
was  a  combined  effort  to  enclose  Napoleon 
in  Dresden,  for  now  Benningsen  had  come 
up  with  the  Russian  reserves,  50,000  fresh 
men,   and  the  Allies  dared  at  last  to  try 


392  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

conclusions  with  their  redoubtable  foe. 
The  Bavarians  were  also  at  the  point  of 
joining  them. 

Napoleon    was    now     concentrating    on 
Leipsic,  and  he  arrived  there  on  October 
1 5,  having  seven  corps  d'arrnee,  the  Guard, 
and  two  cavalry  corps  in  Leipsic,  with  two 
more   infantry   corps   and   one   of    cavalry 
outside,  at  Mockern — in  all,   160,000  men 
with  720  guns.    Schwartzenberg's  Bohemian 
army  and  Bluchers  combined,  with  a  portion 
of  Bernadotte's,  numbered  nearly  200,000, 
with  970  guns.     The  French  were  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  Elster,  but  the  main  force 
to  the  south,  opposed  to  the  allied  centre, 
while   to   the   westward   at  Mockern  Ney 
made  head  against  Bliicher.     The  result  of 
the  first  day's  fighting  on  October  16  was 
a  drawn  battle.     Napoleon  had  taken  the 
offensive  with  some  success ;  but  Ney  had 
lost  Mockern,   and   during   the   night  the 
French  line  was  drawn  in  and  now  occupied 
a  semicircle  around  Leipsic,  with  one  flank 
on   the  Elster,  the   other   on   the   Partha, 
a   smaller   stream.     The   17th   of  October 
passed  in  taking  up  the  new  positions  and 
bringing   up    reinforcements,    but    on    the 


NAPOLEON  AT  BAY  393 

18th  Schwartzenberg  directed  all  his  efforts 
to  crush  the  French  centre  to  the  south  of 
Leipsic,  but  failing  there,  attacked  the  left 
also  without  success.  Meanwhile  Berna- 
dotte  and  Blucher  had  joined  forces,  and 
by  a  vigorous  advance  so  compromised 
Napoleon's  left  that  the  position  at  Leipsic 
was  untenable.  During  the  night  he 
ordered  a  retreat,  and  fell  back  in  much 
confusion  towards  the  Rhine,  covered  by 
a  gallant  rearguard  which  fought  well  but 
was  eventually  overwhelmed. 

No  doubt  this  defeat  was  accentuated  by 
the  lack  of  due  preparation  for  retreat. 
There  was  but  one  bridge  across  the  Elster, 
although  several  of  Napoleon's  leading 
lieutenants  had  urged  upon  Berthier,  the 
chief  of  the  staff,  the  vital  importance  of 
providing  other  passages  across  the  river. 
Berthier  would  not  take  upon  himself 
either  to  order  the  bridges  to  be  con- 
structed or  to  point  out  to  his  imperial 
master  that  they  were  necessary.  He  was 
a  man  of  strict  routine,  extremely  accurate 
in  carrying  out  his  instructions,  but  he 
so  dreaded  Napoleon's  fierce  outbreaks  of 
temper  that  he  had  long  vowed  to  himself 


394         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

that  he  would  never  take  the  initiative, 
never  even  ask  questions,  or  seek  instruc- 
tions. So  when  the  Emperor  overlooked 
any  matter,  as  now,  it  was  neglected  alto- 
gether. Hence,  as  Marbot  tells  us,  when 
the  retreat  began  "  on  Weissenfels  and  the 
Saale  there  was  not  a  beam  or  a  plank 
across  a  single  brook."  This  carelessness 
for  their  safety  produced  much  ill-will  in  the 
army,  and  we  learn  on  the  same  authority 
that  when  the  Emperor  galloped  by  the  re- 
treating columns,  he  was  not  greeted  by  a 
single  cheer. 

Leipsic_was  no  better  than  a  massacre. 
The~French  in  all  lost  6OJO0U  meTrTTnclud- 
ing  prisoners  ;  the  Allies,  45,000.  Napoleon 
had  some  80,000  only  remaining  of  the 
army  he  had  led  forward  in  the  spring,  and 
with  these  shattered  forces  he  reached  the 
Rhine  on  November  2,  to  begin  for  the 
first  time  in  his  military  career  a  defensive 
war.  France  was  to  be  now  invaded  as 
the  last  outrage  imposed  by  the  Napoleonic 
regime. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE   DOWNFALL — 1813-1821 


-  AUSING  to  reduce  the 
:  fortresses  on  the  Oder 
and  Vistula,  the  vic- 
torious Allies  followed 
Napoleon  slowly  to  the 
Rhine.  The  delay  gave 
their  still  indomitable 
foe  time  to  organise  the  defence  of  France, 
but  with  sadly  diminished  means.  But, 
narrowing  his  line,  Napoleon  hoped  to  hold 
the  district  between  the  Seine  and  the 
Marne.  The  aim  of  the  Allies  was,  of 
course,  Paris ;  and  they  eventually  ap- 
proached it  with  three  armies  from  three 

395 


396         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

different  directions.  At  first  two  only 
moved  forward  :  Schwartzenberg  with  the 
Austrians  by  the  line  of  the  Seine  from 
Langres  to  Troyes ;  and  Bliicher  from 
Nancy  to  St  Dizier  and  down  the  Marne. 
This  gave  Napoleon  the  strategical  advan- 
tage— a  central  position  whence  by  masking 
and  retarding  one  he  could  attack  the  other 
with  an  equal  or  preponderating  force. 
Bliicher  was  his  first  aim  ;  but  after  an 
indecisive  action  at  Brienne,  the  French 
were  badly  beaten  at  La  Rothiere.  Bliicher 
subsequently  divided  his  forces  and  was 
again  vigorously  attacked,  in  detail,  by 
Napoleon,  who  won  four  brilliant  victories 
in  as  many  days — Champaubert,  Montmirail, 
Chateau  Thierry  and  Vauchamps.  The 
great  captain's  strategy  in  these  operations 
is  esteemed  the  finest  in  war ;  he  took  full 
advantage  of  his  "  interior  lines,"  his  central 
position.  Although  his  total  numbers  were 
less  than  half  his  enemy's,  he  was  yet  in- 
variably superior  at  the  point  of  attack, 
and  while  fully  informed  of  the  movements 
of  his  opponents,  he  carefully  screened  his 
own.  Next,  Schwartzenberg,  who  had  got 
close  to  Paris,  was  overwhelmed  by  a  rapid 


THE  DOWNFALL  397 

concentration  of  Napoleon's  forces,  and  fell 
back  to  Troyes. 

There  was  now  some  talk  of  peace,  but  it 
came  to  nothing  ;  and  Bernadotte,  who  had 
moved  through  Holland,  appeared  on  the 
scene  in  support  of  Bliicher.  Marmont  fell 
back  as  Bliicher  advanced,  but  was  soon 
joined  by  Napoleon,  who  was  in  a  position 
to  strike  a  crushing  blow  at  the  Prussian 
rear.  Soissons  was  on  the  line  of  Bliicher's 
retreat,  and  having  been  fortified  and  well 
garrisoned,  Napoleon  trusted  to  it  to  inter- 
cept the  Prussians  and  hand  them  over  to 
him.  Soissons  was,  however,  weakly  sur- 
rendered at  the  moment  it  would  have  been 
of  inestimable  use,  for  had  it  held  out  even 
a  day  longer  Bliicher  must  have  been  nearly 
destroyed.  As  it  was,  he  escaped,  being 
only  brought  to  bay  at  Craonne,  where 
Napoleon  defeated  his  left  wing  ;  in  a  second 
battle  at  Laon  Bliicher  worsted  Marmont, 
and  Napoleon,  hearing  that  the  enemy  were 
concentrating,  again  retreated,  but  only  to 
renew  the  offensive  against  Eheims.  So  it 
went  on.  He  was  ubiquitous.  "We  ex- 
pect this  terrible  man  everywhere,"  said 
one  of  his  principal  foes.     "He  has  beaten 


398  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

us  all,  one  after  the  other.  We  dread  the 
audacity  of  his  enterprises,  the  rapidity  of 
his  movements,  his  able  combinations.  A 
new  plan  of  action  is  no  sooner  conceived 
than  he  destroys  it."    . 

At  last  the  only  safe  and  sound  course 
was  adopted — that  of  a  combined  and  con- 
centrated march  on  Paris.  Schwartzenberg 
moved  round  to  join  hands  with  Bliicher  ; 
they  had  only  Marmont  and  Mortier  before 
them ;  Napoleon  was  still  at  St  Dizier 
aiming  at  Schwartzenberg's  communica- 
tions ;  and  at  St  Dizier  he  heard  the  worst 
news.  His  marshals  had  been  defeated, 
the  Allies  were  in  Paris,  Talleyrand  and 
his  party  had  made  submission,  while  the 
Empress  with  her  son  and  the  Council  of 
Regency  had  withdrawn  to  Blois.  Napoleon 
marched  to  Fontainebleau,  and,  after  re- 
viewing his  troops,  proposed  to  move  on 
Paris  and  try  the  issue  in  one  last  encounter. 
But  now  his  lieutenants  rebelled  ;  they  saw 
the  contest  was  hopeless  and  refused  to 
move.  They  went  further,  and,  waxing 
insubordinate,  forced  their  imperious  master 
to  throw  up  the  sponge.  Napoleon,  under 
their  menacing  pressure,  agreed  to  abdicate 


NAPOLEON   AT   FONTAINEBLEAU 


THE  DOWNFALL  401 

in  favour  of  his  son,  with  Marie  Louise  as 
Regent.  The  formal  instrument  was  taken 
to  Paris  by  Ney,  Macdonald  and  Mortier  ; 
but  Talleyrand  was  for  the  Bourbons,  and 
the  Czar,  finding  the  marshals  were  not  at 
one,  insisted  upon  unconditional  abdication. 
Napoleon's  once  world-wide  sovereignty 
was  now  restricted  to  the  empire  of  Elba, 
and  no  sooner  was  the  deed  signed  than  he 
was  deserted  by  all.  His  staff  left  him 
almost  in  a  body  ;  so  few  remained,  indeed, 
that  the  duty  about  his  person  could  not 
be  performed.  The  soldiery,  the  rank  and 
file,  were  still  true  to  the  fallen  leader  they 
adored,  but  elsewhere  in  France,  especially 
in  the  South,  he  was  hooted  with  every 
mark  of  hatred  and  contempt.  At  Avignon 
his  carriage  was  attacked  by  a  mob,  who 
wished  to  draw  him  out  and  throw  him 
into  the  Rhone.  At  Frejus,  where  he 
would  have  lingered  in  the  last  vain  hope 
that  a  blow  might  yet  be  struck  for  him 
by  the  broken  bands  of  soldiery  that  were 
re-entering  France,  he  met  with  the  same 
hostile  demonstrations  from  the  populace. 
The  mob  was  so  outrageous  that  Captain 
Ussher,  of  H.M.S.  Undaunted,  who  was  to 
2  c 


4o2  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

convey  him  to  Elba,  remarked  upon  it. 
"Yes,"  replied  Napoleon,  stoically,  "they 
are  a  fickle  people  and  like  a  weather-cock." 

Napoleon's  exit  from  France  was  dignified, 
although  he  seemed  to  feel  his  humiliation 
acutely.  Captain  Ussher  waited  on  him  at 
the  small  inn  of  Frejus,  where  he  was  to 
embark,  and  found  him  in  the  uniform  of 
the  Old  Guard,  wearing  the  Star  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour.  He  had  an  open  book 
upon  Elba  in  his  hand,  to  which  he  referred 
when  asking  questions  about  the  island. 
His  manner  was  very  condescending  and 
polite.  Captain  Ussher,  who  was  anxious 
to  treat  fallen  greatness  with  proper  chival- 
rous respect,  no  doubt  impressed  him 
favourably,  for  the  Emperor  always  kept 
a  kindly  recollection  of  the  English  naval 
officer.  When  the  time  came  for  embar- 
kation, a  number  of  respectable  people 
assembled  to  bid  him  farewell,  and  on  the 
beach  a  regiment  of  cavalry  was  drawn 
up,  which  saluted  him  with  the  honours 
of  war. 

During  his  short  stay  at  Elba,  Napoleon 
showed  much  of  his  constitutional  vigour. 
He  set  himself  to  govern  his  new  empire 


"1814" 

(By  Meissonier) 

luced  by  permission  of  C.  Klackner,  20  Old  Bond  Street,  London,  and  7  West  28th  Street, 
New  York,  Publisher  of  the  Engraving 


THE  DOWNFALL  405 

diligently.  Almost  directly  he  arrived  he 
inspected  the  fortifications  and  magazine  ;  he 
designed  a  new  national  flag ;  he  was  deep 
in  a  project  for  conveying  water  from  the 
mountains  to  the  city  and  capital,  Porto 
Ferrajo.  He  made  long  excursions  on 
horseback,  visiting  the  country  houses  in 
the  neighbourhood  or  the  mountain  villages, 
following  the  goat-paths ;  or  he  went  out 
in  his  barge  to  examine  the  coast  or  the 
storehouses  in  the  harbour.  In  the  even- 
ings he  entered  into  long  discussions  upon 
his  campaigns,  his  policy,  his  various  actions 
in  the  late  great  events,  talking  with  much 
animation  till  midnight,  and  remaining  on 
his  legs  for  three  hours  at  a  time. 

A  very  short  absence  created  a  very 
wide-spread  revulsion  of  feeling  in  favour 
of  the  dethroned  but  still  alert  adventurer. 
France  soon  saw  that  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons  was  no  unmixed  boon.  These 
half-forgotten  princes  brought  but  mediocre 
talents  to  the  government  of  a  distracted 
country,  and  their  policy  naturally  tended 
to  confusion  and  estrangement.  They 
represented  the  past,  the  long-exiled  party 
which   now    expected    indemnification   for 


4o6         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

their  crosses  and  sufferings.  The  whole 
fabric  of  society  was  unsettled.  New 
interests  consolidated  under  the  empire 
were  threatened ;  the  new  men  must  give 
place  to  the  followers  of  the  old,  in  the 
Army,  in  the  State,  in  the  possession  of 
landed  property.  France  began  to  think 
with  regretful  sympathy  of  the  Napoleonic 
regime  and  to  believe  that  there  were  worse 
evils  than  a  judicious  despotism.  She  was 
ready,  too,  to  raise  her  head  anew  in  a  not 
vain  hope  of  improving  her  position  when 
by  the  treaty  of  peace  a  complete  army 
was  restored  to  her.  The  garrisons  left  by 
Napoleon  in  German  and  Prussian  fortresses, 
the  prisoners  of  war,  captured  in  the  last 
disastrous  campaign,  suddenly  returned  to 
France  in  one  vast  body  numbering  300,000 
seasoned  soldiers  :  a  fresh  struggle  might 
surely  be  begun  with  a  strong  chance  of 
success.  But  only  one  man  could  lead 
them. 

Elba  was  not  so  closely  supervised  that 
news  did  not  reach  the  imprisoned  Em- 
peror ;  nor  was  it  so  strictly  guarded  that 
he  could  be  held  a  prisoner  if  he  was 
determined  to  go  free.     Sir  Neil  Campbell, 


THE  DOWNFALL  407 

the  British  Resident,  Napoleon's  "guest 
rather  than  his  guardian,"  wrote  from  Leg- 
horn, which  he  had  visited,  that  he  believed 
a  plot  for  the  Emperor's  escape  was  afoot 
at  the  end  of  February.  On  the  very  day 
on  which  Campbell  indicted  this  warning, 
February  26,  1815,  Napoleon  left  Elba. 
He  embarked  suddenly  on  board  the  brig 
Inconstant,  which  had  been  prepared  secretly 
as  the  result  of  long  intriguing  with  friends 
in  Italy  and  France.  Four  hundred  ad- 
herents accompanied  him,  and  seven 
hundred  more  embarked  in  other  smaller 
vessels.  The  voyage  was  tedious,  impeded 
by  persistent  calms,  but  on  March  1  the 
flotilla  reached  Golfe  Joanne,  near  Cannes. 
The  garrison  of  Antibes,  close  by,  was 
not  immediately  won  over ;  but  Napoleon 
escaped  detention,  and  passed  on  till  he 
reached  Grenoble.  Here,  too,  the  troops 
were  at  first  disposed  to  intercept  him ; 
but  he  bared  his  breast  to  their  muskets, 
and  boldly  asked  them  if  they  dared  fire 
upon  their  Emperor.  After  that  the  tide 
turned,  and  he  was  received  with  frantic 
delight  all  along  his  route.  His  progress 
was    like    that    of    a    victorious   monarch 


4o8         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

returning   to    receive   the   welcome   of  his 
faithful  people. 

In  truth,  the  French  are  a  fickle  people. 
This  return  of  the  ruler  whom  a  short  year 
ago  they  had  hated  was  hailed  with  de- 
lirious enthusiasm.  Crowds  thronged  the 
road  to  see  him  pass  ;  they  were  so  dense 
that,  despite  their  acclamations,  he  thought 
it  prudent  to  change  into  an  unpretending 
cabriolet.  The  troops  sent  to  check  his 
progress  went  over  to  him  at  once  with 
shouts  of  "  Vive  l'Empereur!"  The  im- 
petuous Ney,  who  had  so  far  forgotten 
himself  as  to  promise  allegiance  to  the 
Bourbons,  had  started  to  "  bring  back 
Napoleon  dead  or  alive,"  but  at  once 
changed  sides  again.  The  scene  in  Paris, 
which  Napoleon  reached  on  the  evening  of 
March  21,  was  most  exciting.  Outside  the 
Tuileries  he  was  received  with  deafening 
cheers ;  inside,  the  staircases  and  galleries 
were  filled  with  old  adherents  eager  to 
renew  their  vows  of  attachment  to  his 
person.  The  Emperor  could  not  get 
through  till  an  attendant  preceded  him  to 
clear  the  way.  "As  for  him  (Napoleon), 
he    walked   up   slowly  with   his   eyes  half 


THE  DOWNFALL  41 1 

closed,  his  hands  extended  before  him,  like 
a  blind  man,  expressing  his  joy  only  by  a 
smile."  He  took  possession  of  the  Tuileries 
with  the  air  of  a  master,  and  while  he 
bathed  and  dressed  to  hold  an  evening 
reception,  the  ladies  and  courtiers  tore 
down  the  Bourbon  emblems,  exposing  the 
old  Napoleonic  bees  instead  of  the  new 
fleurs  de  lis. 

Napoleon  had  recovered  his  kingdom,  but 
he  had  yet  to  hold  it.  He  was  far  from 
sure  of  his  position  at  home.  France  had 
welcomed  him,  no  doubt,  effusively,  but  the 
nation  was  not  quite  prepared  to  accept  the 
old  despotism,  and  her  public  leaders  would 
have  nothing  but  a  Constitutional  King. 
New  triumphs  might,  perhaps,  give  Napoleon 
his  old  power,  but  he  must  first  win  them, 
and  that  soon,  against  another  powerful 
coalition.  He  would  have  all  Europe  again 
upon  his  track,  of  that  there  could  be  no 
doubt.  The  Congress,  still  sitting  at  Vienna, 
lost  no  time  in  declaring  that  Napoleon 
should  have  "neither  peace  nor  truce"  ;  he 
was  an  enemy  and  disturber  of  the  peace 
of  the  whole  world,  and  he  must  be  finally 
and  completely  put  down.     All  the  nations 


4i2         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

bound  themselves  by  solemn   compact   to 
prosecute  the  war  to  the  bitter  end. 

After  his  return  from  Elba  Napoleon  had 
little  time  to  make  head  against  the  vast 
forces  that  would  soon  be  brought  against 
him.  He  worked  now  for  the  coming 
campaign  of  Waterloo  as  he  alone  could 
work.  He  had  to  find  money,  equipment, 
arms ;  to  reorganise  his  regiments,  form 
his  staff,  appoint  leaders ;  he  had  men  in 
plenty,  thanks  to  the  releases  from  Ger- 
many, but  that  was  all.  He  bent  all  his 
energies  to  this  colossal  task,  and  for  a 
time  they  did  not  disappoint  him.  Yet  it 
was  soon  evident  to  those  about  him  that 
he  was  not  the  man  of  old.  His  powers 
were  beginning  to  fail  him.  His  head  was 
as  clear  as  ever,  but  his  strength  of  will, 
his  ability  to  concentrate  himself  on  his 
work  continuously  and  unceasingly,  were 
impaired.  "I  did  not  know  him  again," 
said  Carnot.  "He  talks  instead  of  acting 
— he,  the  man  of  rapid  decisions  ;  he  asks 
opinions — he,  the  imperious  dictator  who 
seemed  insulted  by  advice ;  his  mind  wan- 
ders, though  he  used  to  have  the  power  of 
attending   to   everything  when   and  as  he 


THE  DOWNFALL  413 

would ;  he  is  sleepy,  and  he  used  to  be  able 
to  sleep  and  wake  at  pleasure."  The  man, 
in  short,  was  mortal ;  he  had  lived  fast  and 
hard,  the  physical  machine  was  getting 
worn  out ;  decay  of  the  nerve  centres  had 
set  in.  Again,  as  after  Dresden,  his  im- 
perious nature  succumbed  and  spoilt  another 
great  opportunity. 

But  in  his  preparations  for  Waier-lw,  in 
his  dispositions,  his  plan  of  operations,  his 
rapid  movements  in  the  earliest  stages  of 
the  campaign,  Napoleon  was  assuredly  little 
below  his  best.  It  is  generally  admitted 
by  military  critics  that  his  strategy___was 
superior  to  that  of  his  adversaries.  His 
design  was  excellent ;  the  very  direction  of 
his  march  struck  at  the  weakest  point  of 
the  enemy's  line.  Had  he  promptly  followed 
his  initial  advantage,  and  been  properly 
served  by  his  lieutenants,  he  would  have 
separated  the  Allies,  and  rolling  each  up 
along  his  own  divergent  line  of  retreat, 
would  have  prevented  them  from  again 
joining  forces. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  little  doubt 
but  that  Wellington  was  out-generalled. 
Our    great    Duke,   for   reasons   that  have 


4i4  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

never  been  explained,  never  expected  attack 
from  the  quarter  where  it  seemed  most 
probable.  He  looked  for  Napoleon  on  his 
right  striking  at  his  communications  with 
the  sea.  Contrary  to  the  opinion  of  all 
modern  strategists,  Wellington  maintained 
to  his  dying  day  that  it  was  by  this  line 
Napoleon  should  have  advanced,  and  not 
by  that  which  now  appears  obvious,  the 
centre.  Hence  the  English  lay  mostly  to 
that  side,  and  even  when  the  French  move- 
ment was  fully  developed,  their  concentra- 
tion to  the  threatened  point  was  slow. 
Wellington  could  hardly  believe  the  fact 
when  it  became  undeniable,  and  to  the  last 
scarcely  realised  the  importance  of  Quatre 
Bras  to  his  plans  and  his  army.  Napoleon 
thrust  himself  in  between  the  Allies,  and 
but  for  the  dilatoriness  of  his  generals,  who 
neglected  to  close  up  their  advancing  but 
straggling  columns,  he  would  have  been  so 
immensely  superior  to  the  Prussians  that 
he  could  have  easily  brushed  them  aside 
and  marched  on  Brussels  before  Wellington's 
army  could  assemble  to  oppose  him. 

The  occupation  of  Brussels  was  Napoleon's 
principal  aim.     Had  he  succeeded  in  gaining 


THE  DOWNFALL  415 

the  advantage  this  fine  strategy  deserved, 
had  the  English  been  compelled  to  withdraw 
on  their  ships,  the  Prussians  towards  the 
Rhine,  he  might  have  been  in  a  position  to 
obtain  peace.  The  English  Ministry  would 
have  fallen,  the  Opposition  was  really 
friendly  to  him,  and  if  England  had  with- 
drawn from  the  coalition  of  his  enemies, 
they  might  have  gone  to  pieces.  The 
triumphant  possession  of  Belgium  would 
have  appealed  to  the  French  people,  and 
have  given  him  a  new  lease  of  power.  Both 
politically  and  strategically  his  plan  of 
campaign  was  a  daring  stroke  of  genius, 
finely  conceived,  but  failing  in  execution. 
Time  was  the  essence  of  the  situation,  yet 
from  the  very  first  time  was  hopelessly  but 
irretrievably  lost.  Here  the  causes  already 
mentioned  chiefly  interposed.  Ill-health 
had  undermined  his  personal  vigour. 
Napoleon  left  Paris  unwell  both  in  body 
and  mind.  To  the  mysterious  failure  of 
physical  powers  was  superadded  a  depres- 
sion of  spirits,  a  gloomy  anticipation  of 
coming  misfortune,  that  greatly  militated 
against  success  in  the  game  that  demands 
unbounded    self-reliance    and    nerve.      He 


416  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

believed  now  that  his  luck  had  really  turned, 
and  he  firmly  believed  in  luck.  "What  a 
force  it  is!"  he  cried.  "It  alone  imparts 
courage.  It  is  the  feeling  that  fortune 
is  with  us  that  gives  us  the  hardihood  to 
dare.  Not  to  dare  is  to  do  nothing  of 
moment,  and  one  never  dares  except  in  the 
confidence  that  fortune  will  favour  us." 

These  forebodings  were,  no  doubt,  justi- 
fied by  the  severe  buffets  he  had  lately 
received.  Nor  was  it,  after  all,  his  want  of 
daring  that  now  ruined  him,  for  he  dared 
much,  but  the  many  mischances  that  marred 
his  operations,  some  of  them  fairly  attribut- 
able to  ill  luck.  Napoleon  had  undoubtedly 
won  the  first  moves.  He  had  counted 
upon  what  he  believed  were  the  personal 
characteristics  of  his  opponents  —  that 
Wellington  would  be  very  cautious  and 
Blucher  over-eager.  So  he  planned  to  push 
in  past  the  one  and  draw  on  the  other  only 
to  fall  a  prey  to  his  concentrated  and  over- 
whelming forces.  All  this  he  had  secured 
on  the  15th,  the  first  day  of  this  brief  but 
most  eventful  campaign.  But  now  began 
the  delays  which  might  be  called  ill  luck, 
but  which  were  really  due  to  want  of  vigour. 


THE  DOWNFALL  417 

On  the  evening  of  that  first  day  Napoleon 
was  so  worn  out  that  he  slept  late  next 
morning,  and  when  he  woke  he  was  still 
too  feeble  to  attend  to  business.  This  was 
the  time  when  Ney,  with  the  advance,  was 
within  striking  distance  of  one  weak  division 
of  Dutch  Belgians  at  Quatre  Bras,  and 
Wellington,  hastening  up  with  supports 
from  Brussels,  was  still  a  long  way  off. 
Ney  should  have  been  on  the  move  at  day- 
light, 3  a.m.,  but  still  he  halted  waiting  for 
orders,  and  none  were  issued  till  Napoleon 
appeared  at  11  a.m.  Eight  precious  hours 
were  gone — hours,  as  has  been  well  said, 
of  which  each  was  worth  a  reinforcement 
of  10,000  men — and  with  them  the  chance 
of  penetrating  the  slender  barrier  of  Quatre 
Bras.  Napoleon  told  Ney  he  would  join 
him  as  soon  as  he  had  disposed  of  the 
gathering  Prussians,  whom  he  estimated 
at  some  40,000  ;  but  Ney,  believing  that 
Bliicher's  whole  army  was  at  Ligny,  still 
hung  back,  watching  them.  .  The  serious 
attack  on  Quatre  Bras  did  not  begin  till 
2.30,  and  by  that  time  Wellington  and 
Picton's  division  were  close  at  hand. 
Meanwhile  Napoleon  had  begun  the  battle 

2  D 


4i8         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

of  Ligny.  Ney  was  to  co-operate  by  out- 
flanking the  Prussian  left  as  soon  as  he  had 
swept  the  English  out  of  the  way.  This 
order  was  the  first  cause  of  a  series  of  mis- 
adventures that  lost  the  services  of  a  whole 
corps,  d'Erlon's,  to  both  Napoleon  and  Ney. 
For  as  d'Erlon  was  advancing  to  support 
the  latter,  to  whose  command  he  belonged, 
an  aide-de-camp  turned  him  off  towards 
Ligny,  where  his  unexpected  appearance — 
an  unknown  body  feared  to  be  English — 
delayed  Napoleon's  final  attack  till  nearly 
too  late.  Ney  meanwhile  had  peremptorily 
recalled  the  errant  d'Erlon,  who  now  left 
the  neighbourhood  of  Ligny  without  aiding 
in  the  action.  In  his  absence  Ney  had 
been  defeated  by  Wellington. 

But  for  these  delays  and  mischances  the 
result  of  the  fighting  must  have  been  very 
different  at  Quatre  Bras.  The  defeat  of  the 
Prussians  at  Ligny,  too,  would  have  been 
much  more  decisive  if  Ney  could  have  taken 
them  in  flank.  All  through  Napoleon  had 
been  far  too  deliberate.  Now  after  the 
victory  he  again  lost  invaluable  time.  The 
pursuit  should  have  been  prosecuted  with 
promptitude  and  vigour.     Yet  nothing  was 


2  V 


THE  DOWNFALL  421 

done  till  noon  next  day.     Again,  Napoleon 
had  been  prostrated  with  fatigue  and  slept 


cJLl^~ 


fri*<iis        •?•->    y- 


Mi-'—      «*-«. 


j 


j- 


~<~A—  »......?  -tl/Sj 


NOTES   WRITTEN    BY    NAPOLEON    ON    PLAYING   CARDS   WHEN    HE 
WAS   TRYING   TO    LEARN    ENGLISH   AT   ST   HELENA 

late ;  when  he  rose  it  was  to  gossip  on 
politics  and  Parisian  small  talk,  not  to  act. 
Grouchy  did  not  get  his  orders  to  follow  up 


422  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

the  Prussians  till  midday ;  Ney  certainly 
had  been  told  to  advance,  but  he  was  out 
of  humour,  and  made  no  move  till  Napoleon 
joined  him  at  1  p.m.  Three  hours  earlier, 
Wellington,  informed  of  Bliicher's  defeat, 
had  withdrawn,  unmolested  and  in  perfect 
order,  to  the  position  at  Waterloo.  Napoleon 
followed  slowly,  hardly  daring  to  hope  that 
the  hated  English  would  risk  a  battle  with 
him.  That  Wellington  would  not,  in  truth, 
have  fought  at  Waterloo  unless  he  had  been 
satisfied  that  Bliicher  would  support  is  now 
an  established  fact  in  history.  How  he 
gained  that  assurance,  whether  by  a  personal 
visit  to  Bliicher's  bedside  in  the  dead  of 
night  or  by  a  despatch  from  the  Prussian 
headquarters,  or  both,  we  may  never  cer- 
tainly know  ;  but  that  the  battle  was  the 
r°?rrUof  con^nrtnd  n^tinn  ^ptWeen  t^Q-^^i^d 

conjLmaniiers is    now   p^nynd — bevuiiu    all 

queation^^ 

Napoleon  was  only  anxious  lest  the 
English  should  escape  him.  He  was  on 
the  move  during  the  night,  watching  their 
bivouac  fires,  and  in  the  morning  rubbed 
his  hands  with  glee  as  he  saw  them  still 
there.     "  Ces  Anglais  !    Enfin  je  les  tiens  !  " 


THE  DOWNFALL  425 

he  cried,  and  turned  fiercely  on  his  generals 
Soult  and  Foy,  who  warned  him  that  he 
would  find  us  tough  customers.  "Les 
Anglais  en  duel  sont  le  diable,"  Foy  had 
said.  When  Soult  spoke  in  the  same  strain 
his  master  cruelly  replied,  "  You  believe  in 
these  English  because  they  have  always 
beaten  you."  So  confident  was  Napoleon 
of  his  coming  triumph  that  he  marched 
his  troops  into  their  positions  slowly,  with 
bands  playing  and  all  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  war.  No  doubt  the  ground  was 
so  heavy  with  recent  rain  that  the  movement 
of  artillery  was  difficult;  still  the  battle 
might  have  begun  before  11.30  a.m.,  and 
the  delay  was  all  in  Wellington's  favour. 
It  brought  the  Prussians  nearer,  and  they 
would  have  been  on  the  ground  early  in  the 
afternoon  had  not  Billow's,  the  leading 
corps,  been  halted  at  St  Lambert  by  order 
of  Gneisenau,  the  Prussian  Chief  of  the 
Staff,  who  disliked  Wellington  and  dis- 
trusted his  promise  to  stand  and  fight  at 
Waterloo. 

The  great  battle  is  too  well  known  to 
need  detailed  description.  The  French 
assumed  the  offensive  throughout,  until  at 


426         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

last  the  Prussian  advance  compromised  the 
right  flank  and  necessitated  a  defensive 
action  on  that  side.  Then  the  failure  of 
the  last  attack  incited  Wellington  to  charge 
the  discomfited  foe.  There  were  five 
attacks :  the  first,  on  Hougomont,  which 
failed ;  a  second,  on  Papelotte  and  Haye 
Sainte,  in  which  the  first  only  was  taken  ; 
the  third,  a  great  attack  upon  the  allied 
centre,  which  was  repulsed  ;  the  fourth,  the 
splendid  but  premature  charge  of  the  whole 
of  the  French  cavalry,  which  was  shattered 
against  the  British  squares ;  and  the  fifth 
and  last,  the  tremendous  effort  made  by  the 
Imperial  Guard,  which  proved  no  longer 
invincible. 

In  all,  the  unshaken  heroism  of  the 
British  troops  could  not  be  overcome,  but 
their  efforts  were  no  doubt  greatly  aided 
by  the  tactical  skill  of  their  almost  ubiqui- 
tous leader.  Wellington,  was  all  over  the 
field,  and  always  at  Jjie  .critical  point. 
Napoleon,  on  the  other  hand,  took  post  at 
the  opening  of  the  engagement  on  the  hill 
of  Rossomme,  from  which  he  issued  his 
directions.  It  has  been  held  that  butjb£ 
the  Prussian  attack,  Napqlexin_vwmld  have 


NAPOLEON    AT    ST    HELENA 
(Ftom  a  Mezzotint) 


THE  DOWNFALL  429 

overcome  the  sturdy  resistance  of  the 
English.  There  was  no  doubt  one  crisis 
in  the  fight  after  the  capture  of  La  Haye 
Sainte,  about  5  p.m.,  when  Wellington's 
line  was  broken,  and  but  for  his  vigilance 
and  promptitude  in  bringing  up  troops  to 
fill  the  gap,  the  tide  might  have  turned 
against  him.  Now  he  must  have  felt  the 
urgent  need  of  the  division  he  had  kept 
at  Hal,  18,000  men,  eight  miles  from  the 
battlefield,  too  far  to  be  useful,  and  thus 
lost  through  his  persistent  anxiety  for  his 
right  flank. 

Again,  Napoleon's  numbers  on  the  field, 
which  had  a  slight  advantage  over  Welling- 
ton's, being  as  72,000  men  with  246  guns, 
to  68,000  with  156  guns,  would  have  been 
preponderating,  but  for  the  errors  that 
deprived  him  of  the  assistance  of  Grouchy. 
That  Marshal,  by  too  implicit  and  unin- 
telligent obedience  of  his  orders,  was  still 
pursuing  the  Prussians,  but  in  the  wrong 
direction,  and,  as  we  know,  they  lent  their 
weight  to  Wellington,  while  Grouchy  was 
lost  to  Napoleon.  Much  controversy  has 
arisen  as  to  who  was  most  to  blame,  the 
supreme   commander   or   the   subordinate ; 


430         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

but  nothing  can  excuse  Grouchy's  neglect 
of  a  fundamental  principle  of  warfare — to 
work  towards  the  guns.  He  heard  the 
sounds  of  fighting  towards  Waterloo  early 
in  the  day,  and  had  he  followed  the  true 
instinct  of  a  soldier  he  would  have  met  the 
messengers  sent  to  hurry  him  forward  to 
the  scene  of  conflict.  Instead  of  which  he 
fought  a  small  useless  engagement  with  one 
corps,  and  was  absent  from  the  decisive 
point — Water]  oo . 

Four  days  later,  June  22,  Napoleon,  who 
had  fled  post-haste  to  Paris,  signed  his 
second  abdication.  A  terrible  and  most 
complete  collapse  ended  the  moving  drama 
of  the  "Hundred  Days."  "My  public  life 
is  finished,"  said  Napoleon,  although  he  had 
not  quite  abandoned  hope,  and  thought 
that  he  might  be  retained  as  the  first 
soldier  of  the  nation,  under  some  new 
Directory.  France  would  have  none  of 
him  :  it  was  truly  sick  of  the  Great  Adven- 
turer, who  hurried  now  to  Rochefort,  think- 
ing to  escape  to  the  United  States.  But 
he  could  not  get  through  the  vigilant  English 
cruisers,  and  on  July  15  he  surrendered 
himself  to    Captain    Maitland,    of  H.M.S. 


THE  DOWNFALL  433 

Bellerophon.  He  made  no  conditions,  but 
placed  himself  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of 
England.  It  was  his  only  chance,  indeed, 
of  safety,  for  Blucher  wanted  to  shoot  him 
on  the  very  spot  that  he  had  caused  the 
Due  d'Enghien  to  be  murdered.  It  must 
have  cost  Napoleon  much  to  submit  to  the 
enemy  he  had  most  bitterly  hated.  "  I 
come,"  he  wrote  the  Prince  Regent,  "like 
Themistocles,  to  seat  myself  at  the  hearth 
of  the  British  people  ;  I  place  myself  under 
the  protection  of  the  English  laws,  which  I 
claim  as  the  most  powerful,  the  most  con- 
stant, the  most  generous  of  my  enemies." 

England,  in  the  person  of  her  Govern- 
ment, was  surely  wanting  in  chivalry  to  her 
fallen  foe.  There  was  a  pettiness  unworthy 
of  a  great  nation  in  denying  her  prisoner 
the  empty  honours  of  rank  and  title  ;  in 
steadily  refusing  to  recognise  the  ex- 
Emperor  as  anything  but  General  Bona- 
parte. But  his  life,  at  least,  was  held 
sacred,  and  his  exile  to  the  rocky  prison- 
house  of  St  Helena  may  be  defended  as 
required  on  sound  public  grounds.  Yet 
the  conditions  regulating  his  detention 
seem    unnecessarily    harsh    and    irksome. 


434         LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON 

The  choice  of  his  future  jailer  was,  at  least, 
unfortunate,  and  the  protests  that  came  to 
Europe  like  a  distant  voice  found  a  sym- 
pathetic and  pitying  echo.  Still,  the  de- 
meanour of  his  bright  spirit  that  had  once 
illumined  all  the  world  and  was  now  nearly 
extinguished,  was  hardly  consonant  with 
its  past  effulgence,  and  it  flickered  out  at 
last  amid  unworthy  squabbles  and  an  un- 
worthy attempt  to  vindicate  his  career  by 
correcting  truth.  How  low  the  mighty  had 
fallen  was  still  more  emphasised  by  the 
mean  vindictiveness  of  his  will,  wherein  he 
bequeathed  a  legacy  to  the  Frenchman  who 
had  sought  to  assassinate  Wellington. 


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NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
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University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 


3 


11. 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


SEHT  on  ill 


SEP  2  *\  1999 


U.  C.  BERKELEY 


12,000(11/95) 


32  zloaz 

Cap.  2. 
Hist.  I. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


